Springfield Case Settled: Five White Police Officers Beat & Choked Black School Principal Having Diabetic Seizure

Black Man Driving BMW Dragged Through Window Gets $180,000; Police Admit No Liability - Still Employed

The city of Springfield reaches a settlement with a black school principal who was allegedly attacked by five white police officers.

Douglas Greer was pulled from his car by the officers in January 2005 as he was having a diabetic attack while parked at a convenience store.

Greer, who at the time was the principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, says the officers kicked and choked him and accused him of being on drugs.

One of the officers in his original report said police were trying to restrain Greer as he thrashed and screamed before he was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Greer is now principal at the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, according to the state Department of Education's Web site.

One of Greer's lawyers, Perman Glenn III, hailed the $180,000 settlement as a "step forward in exposing and combating police brutality in Springfield." But under the agreement, the city and police officers admit no liability.

About a month after the incident involving Greer, the city's police commission voted not to pursue disciplinary action against the officers. All five officers are still in the police department, said city attorney Edward Pikula.
The Department of Education Web site indicates Greer is now principal at the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield. [MORE] and [MORE] and [MORE]

Jury selection to begin for San Bernardino County deputy in videotaped shooting of Unarmed Latino Man

The grainy amateur video seems to show a deputy shooting a U.S. airman three times as he struggles to obey an order to get up from the ground. But it's what the video doesn't show that could take center stage at the upcoming trial of former San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Ivory J. Webb Jr. After the shooting, Webb told investigators he thought 21-year-old Elio Carrion was reaching for a weapon -- something that's not clear on the 40-second video clip. Authorities later determined Carrion was unarmed. Still, experts say the deputy's contention could prevail in the case, based on acquittals in previous high-profile police brutality trials. (White) Jurors tend to believe accused cops who say they opened fire because they felt threatened, said Eugene O'Donnell, a former prosecutor who is now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.  In addition, law enforcement officials are finding that videos seldom capture enough details to disprove those claims -- at least in the (lying) eyes of (white) jurors. Webb, 46, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm in the Jan. 29, 2006, shooting that was filmed by a bystander and aired by TV stations nationwide. Jury selection is set to begin April 30. If convicted, Webb could face more than 18 years in prison.  [MORE]

No Charges for Houston Officers who Shot Mentally Ill Latino Man

Relatives call for a meeting with HPD chief after an officer is no-billed in his Jan. 7 death

A day after a grand jury declined to indict the police officer who  fatally shot their mentally ill relative, a Houston family on Friday called for a meeting with  Police Chief Harold Hurtt. The parents and sisters of Omar Esparza want to ask about police procedures and training, their  attorney said. They want to know, specifically, why police did not negotiate longer with Esparza  before entering the house where he had barricaded himself. "They are still struggling with this," said the attorney, Carlos Leon. "This decision (to not indict  the officer) brings back everything, and they go through (the shooting) all over again like it  happened yesterday." A Harris County grand jury Thursday cleared Rodney D. Chaison Jr., a five-year police veteran,  of any wrongdoing in the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Esparza, 21. Chaison shot the Lamar High  School graduate when he refused to comply with the officers' demands and charged at them  with a hammer, police said. The fatal confrontation occurred after police had been on the scene for two hours, attempting  to calm Esparza. The dead man's parents, sisters and other relatives clung to framed photos while Leon told  reporters outside their east Houston home that they are disappointed by the grand jury's  inaction. The Houston Police Department issued a statement Friday about the case. The statement states that, in the face-to-face meeting, Esparza "threatened to hit the officers  in the head with the hammer and door lock. ... In an attempt to get control of the situation, a  plan was devised to enter the residence with the intention of using the minimum force  necessary to gain control of the situation."But Esparza refused to comply with the officers' demands. Officers shot him with a bean bag,  then fired and missed with a Taser, before fatally shooting him after he moved in a  "threatening manner." The message in this case, Leon said, seems to be that Houston residents should "think long  and hard" before they call police about a mentally ill family member. The Esparza family will likely file a civil lawsuit against the city, Leon added. [MORE]

Group wants charges brought against Milwaukee Police Officer in fatal shooting of Latino Man

A group plans to ask the Milwaukee district attorney to file charges against an officer involved in a fatal shooting last year. Last May, an inquest jury held that Officer Alfonzo Glover was justified in fatally shooting Wilbert Javier Prado in March 2005 during a traffic incident. Glover was off duty at the time.The Milwaukee Police Accountability Coalition plans to present its demands to Milwaukee County District Attorney E- Michael McCann tomorrow.The 25-year-old Prado was an illegal Mexican immigrant living in Milwaukee after moving from Racine. He was wounded eight times from behind during the incident. [MORE]

Judge Orders Release of Report: Chicago Police Tortured Over 192 Black Men

 May 20, 2006

 
Jon Burge began his "house of torture" in 1973 and did not stop until he was 'fired' in Feb. 1993. [MORE]
A report from a four-year, multimillion-dollar investigation into allegations that Chicago police tortured black suspects should be released to the public, a judge ruled Friday. Attorneys for several officers involved in the case had argued against the release of the report, which addresses accusations that police tortured 192 black men in interrogation rooms during the 1970s and 1980s.  But in authorizing special prosecutors to release the document, Chief Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel wrote that "the public's right to be informed of the results of this exhaustive investigation outweighs the privacy rights of the individual officers." Allegations include officers using suffocation techniques, such as placing a typewriter cover over a suspect's head, electric shocks, beatings and mock Russian roulette to elicit confessions. Many of the accusers have pointed to officers who were overseen by Commander Jon Burge, who was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993. "After the third torture session, I understood that these guys weren't going to let me out of there alive if I didn't say what they wanted," said David Bates, who was among the people whose cases were investigated by the special prosecutor. Mr. Bates said police beat him and covered his head with a typewriter cover in 1983 until he confessed to a crime he says he did not commit. One of the prosecutors, Edward J. Egan, said the report would be reviewed for accuracy and not released before June 2. It is unclear whether the investigation will lead to indictments. Statutes of limitations could be an issue. [MORE] and [MORE]

• Pictured above: Jon Burge and Aaron Patterson. Patterson was sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of an elderly couple. Patterson's conviction rested primarily on a confession obtained by a group of south side police officers later shown to have engaged in systematic torture of suspects in scores of criminal cases. Immediately after signing the confession, Patterson used a paper clip he found to scratch into a metal bench: "Police threaten me with violence . . . Slapped and suffocated me with plastic . . . Signed false statement to murders." He was pardoned by Illinois Governor George Ryan in January, 2003. [MORE] and [MORE]
• Pictured: David Bates talks with reporters after a Chicago judge ruled Friday, May 19, 2006.  Bates has said he was convicted of murder and other charges in the mid-1980s due to a false confession he gave after being tortured by Chicago police, but he was eventually freed on appeal.

UN Asks What are You Going to do About it? Chicago Police Torture Probe doesn't go far enough

A four-year investigation into allegations of torture at the Chicago Police Department needs to go further, a UN anti-torture panel said today, calling on the United States to ensure punishment for law enforcement officials who mistreated suspects. A report by the UN Committee Against Torture said the multimillion-dollar investigation into the alleged torture of 192 black men in interrogation rooms during the 1970s and 1980s was "limited" and not yet led to any prosecutions. The UN committee says the United States "should promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all allegations of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by law enforcement personnel and bring perpetrators to justice." The committee is a panel of 10 independent experts who review nations' compliance with a 1984 global convention establishing a broad ban on prisoner mistreatment. Fernando Marino Menendez, an expert from Spain who chairs the committee, said the U.S. government needed to provide more information on what it was doing to ensure justice for people claiming to have been tortured by Chicago police. [MORE] and [MORE]

• Pictured above: Fred Hampton Jr., right, son of slain black panther leader Fred Hampton, listens to Joe Roddy, attorney for police officers, talk about a Chicago judges decision Friday, May 12, 2006, to delay the release of a report into allegations of torture by the Chicago police department.
  

Mother's plea: ‘I want to know why’ - Family of Black Man killed by Glen Ellyn Police Files Federal Lawsuit

 
Black College Student- Unarmed & Naked Shot in the Face by Frightened Police
Portia Uwumarogie said she sent her son, Benjamin, to Glen Ellyn to get a college degree. Instead, the 22-year-old College of DuPage student died in a police shooting. Colleagues of Glen Ellyn officer Jason Bradley say he is a hero who risked his life to save a child, but the outraged Uwumarogie family isn’t so easily convinced. They filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging discrimination, undue deadly force, inadequate police training and that conspiring authorities are hiding the truth about the April 26 shooting. “Whatever happened that day, I do know my son well enough to know he would not harm anyone and was just trying to defend himself,” his mother said. “He was not the type of person to fear.” His father, Sunday, added: “I want to know why, why, why. How could he be shot in the face, in his own bedroom, while unarmed and naked?” As their lawyers filed the lawsuit, the parents, siblings and friends toted signs such as “Don’t cover up the truth” and “Justice for Benjamin” during a protest in downtown Chicago. They called upon DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett to prosecute the police officer. Detectives who interviewed the officer and Uwumarogie’s friends and neighbors report a far more violent and bizarre portrayal of Uwumarogie than his family said is possible of the south suburban native. He did not have a history of criminal or mental problems, but officials suspect Uwumarogie suffered an emotional breakdown that day. Authorities said he attacked a girlfriend, performed naked cartwheels, shouted religious rantings and tried to drown his own baby before attacking Bradley. Authorities described a violent struggle that led to a bedroom in which the officer was beaten, his uniform torn. The men were alone in the room when the gun discharged, fatally striking the man once in the head. Attorneys Douglas Hopson and Benjamin Nwoye said the unarmed, nude man did not pose a danger and called the notion that Uwumarogie was trying to kill his son “ludicrous.” “There’s no history of such conduct and, more importantly, we have an eyewitness who disputes that claim,” Hopson said. The lawsuit alleges police did nothing to try to save the man’s life, allowing him to bleed to death while denying medical care. It also seeks an unspecified amount in damages and for a judge to order the Glen Ellyn police department to better train members on racial sensitivity and use of deadly force. [MORE] and [MORE] and  [MORE] and [MORE]

NAACP, FBI, ACLU Seek Info On Salt Lake Police Stun-Gun Beating Death of Somoan Man

The Salt Lake City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the FBI and the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union all have interest in the death of a man whom police purportedly wrestled to the ground, hit with clubs, and pepper sprayed all before being shocked with a TASER electronic control device. The Salt Lake NAACP branch called for a “full investigation” into the death Friday night of Alvin Itula, 35. Jeanetta Williams, president of the branch, said the organization will ask officials to determine whether Itula’s civil rights were violated.  Itula, who was Samoan, may have been treated harshly because of his race, she said.  Williams said she already has spoken with police Chief Chris Burbank and plans to ask the U.S. attorney’s office to review the case after the Salt Lake County district attorney completes his investigation.  The FBI is “evaluating the situation now,” spokesman Patrick Kiernan said. “I can’t say we’ve formally opened a case yet.”  The Utah ACLU chapter wants the mayor and police chief to review the guidelines governing the use of a TASER device.  Police approached Itula after mistakenly believing he still was wanted on an arrest warrant. Police said Itula tried to flee and began to fight with the officers.  The four officers involved in the incident are on paid administrative leave while the case is investigated by the police department and district attorney. [MORE]

Prosecutor recommends Arrest of Hartford Police in Fatal Shooting of Black Man: Jashon Bryant was Unarmed & Shot from Behind

The Waterbury state's attorney on Tuesday recommended that an arrest warrant be sought for a Hartford police officer who shot a city man to death last year. Officer Robert Lawlor should be charged with manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jashon Bryant, prosecutor John Connelly said. The report  found the shooting of 18-year-old Jashon Bryant -- who is black -- by Robert Lawlor -- a white police officer -- was not justified. The report was completed after an investigation by a grand juror in which 48 witnesses were questioned and more than 200 exhibits reviewed. He made his recommendation to Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano. Lawlor also should be charged with assault in the wounding of 20-year-old Brandon Henry in the same incident, Connelly said. An arrest warrant was not issued by late Tuesday and Lawlor remained on administrative duty, police said. Bryant was sitting in the passenger seat of the car when Lawlor and his partner, Dan Prather, an agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, approached the vehicle with the belief that Bryant and Henry had a gun. Lawlor and Prather, who were part of a task force aimed at removing illegal guns from the streets, ordered Bryant and Henry to get out, but Henry started the car. Lawlor opened fire when Henry drove directly toward Prather and Bryant reached down in front of the seat and pulled up what the officer believed to be a gun, Georgetti has said. Bryant was killed instantly from a gunshot wound to the head, and Henry drove off despite being shot once in the chest. He continued for several blocks, eluding police before crashing into a parked car. But the suspected weapon was never found, despite an extensive search of the car and surrounding neighborhood. The ATF agent assigned to work with Lawlor that day testified he never saw Bryant reaching for a gun, and never considered himself in danger at any point. An analysis of the five shots fired from Lawlor's gun showed they were all fired as the car was driving away from him. The two shots that struck Bryant were both fired from behind him, including one that passed through the passenger seat headrest and struck him in the head. Forensic experts, including Dr. Henry Lee, found the tip of Bryant's right thumb had been grazed by one of the shots, suggesting at least one of his hands had been in clear view at the time of the shooting, and may have been raised as a defensive gesture. [MORE] and [MORE]

• Gathering, Memorial Is Dedicated To Teen Slain By Police Officer Year Ago Today [MORE] 

What a Surprise. Racist Milwaukee Cop Exonerated in Jude Beating Also Gets Off in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Black Man

A federal jury has found a former Milwaukee police officer did not use excessive force when he shot and killed man in 2002.Jon Bartlett testified that he shot in self-defense after he saw 31-year-old Larry Jenkins behind the wheel of a car accelerating toward him. He said he thought Jenkins was trying to kill him.But Jenkins' family testified he wasn't even behind the wheel when Bartlett shot him seven times.Bartlett was fired from the police department after he and two other officers were charged in the 2004 beating of Frank Jude Jr.Last month Bartlett was acquitted of charges in that beating. [MORE] and [MORE]

• Racist Milwaukee Police work to build relations with Hmong Community in Aftermath of Police Killing of Mentally Ill Man [MORE]
  

All in the Family with White Milwaukee Cops: Judge says Contact between Bartlett, union head ruled confidential

On Thursday (before the verdict), U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon ruled that Jenkins' family could not present testimony regarding their theory that Bartlett was coached by his attorney and the Milwaukee Police Association president about what to say to justify his use of force. After several hours of argument, Herndon ruled that Bartlett's conversations with attorney Jonathan Cermele and with former union President Bradley DeBraska must remain confidential. In the case of Cermele, the ruling was not a surprise, because conversations between attorneys and their clients must be kept private. Herndon went a step further, however, extending the attorney-client privilege to DeBraska, who is not a lawyer. On the night Bartlett shot Jenkins, DeBraska conferred with both Bartlett and Cermele regarding Bartlett's best interest, DeBraska testified Thursday outside the presence of the jury. Because of those actions, Herndon ruled that DeBraska was an agent of the attorney and therefore protected. [MORE]

Redneck Milwaukee Cops Don't Snitch on Each Other & Weak Prosecutors Don't Charge Them

 
Why Wasn't Officer Packard Charged in Jude Beating?
One of the lingering questions in the beating of Frank Jude Jr. was raised last week by a juror who voted to clear the three police officers: Why wasn't Ryan Packard charged? Packard, an off-duty officer and early suspect, was suspended along with defendants Jon Bartlett, Andrew Spengler and Daniel Masarik. By his own account, Packard took down Jude but said he left before the beating. Testimony on what he did was mixed. Two off-duty officers said Packard punched Jude. Two others said he wasn't there. District Attorney E. Michael McCann said that wasn't enough to charge Packard. Packard not only wasn't charged, he got the lightest punishment of 13 officers disciplined. Packard was given 23 days without pay - far less than two on-duty officers who have been praised by Chief Nannette Hegerty for testifying. They each got 76 days, unpaid. Hegerty fired nine officers, including three who had no contact with Jude. They were fired for not stopping the beating. Two ultimately got their jobs back. Hegerty declined to comment about Packard as federal agencies investigate the beating. She has testified that Packard hit Jude but acted appropriately. Possible federal charges include civil rights violations by off-duty officers, such as Packard, who claimed to be on duty. Packard, in fact, filed 9.7 hours of overtime for what he did on Oct. 24, 2004, but he didn't cooperate with investigators. It took five months before he told anyone from the department that he used force against Jude. Off-duty officers Michelle Grutza and Ryan Lemke, a couple who had also come to the party, backed Packard's story and denied seeing the beating. Other officers gave different accounts. Jodi Kamermayer, who worked with Packard, testified that he hit Jude. Bradley Blum said he "believed" he saw Packard hit Jude, according to an internal investigation. Bartlett testified that Packard hit Jude twice in the face. On-duty officer Joseph Schabel said Packard - along with the defendants - was on Jude when he arrived, but he didn't see him hit Jude. Another on-duty officer, Nicole Belmore, didn't see Packard on Jude. While the criminal complaint included allegations against Packard, McCann said there were too many different accounts to charge him.
[MORE]

Autopsy Confirms Black Teenager was Suffocated & Murdered by Florida Boot Camp

 
NO GUARDS INVOLVED ARRESTED
Martin Lee Anderson, the 14-year-old boy whose death last January at a Panama City boot camp sent shock waves through the state's juvenile justice system, was suffocated by guards who held his mouth shut and forced him to inhale a fatal amount of ammonia, a medical examiner said Friday. The conclusion that the guards' actions killed the teen repudiated an earlier autopsy that found Martin had died of natural causes, a ruling that outraged family members and their supporters. ''Martin Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due to the actions of the guards at the boot camp,'' Dr. Vernard Adams, Tampa's chief medical examiner, wrote Friday. Adams performed an autopsy March 13 at the request of special prosecutor Mark Ober, who will decide if criminal charges will be filed in the case. 'The suffocation was caused by manual [blockage] of the mouth, in concert with forced inhalation of ammonia fumes that caused spasm of the vocal cords resulting in internal blockage of the upper airway,'' Adams said. None of the seven or eight guards seen manhandling Martin in a videotape shot by a security camera have been arrested.  Adams' conclusion ends a bitter chapter in the tragic case, which began Jan. 5 when a group of guards at the Bay County Sheriff's Office Boot Camp punched, kneed and choked Martin hours after he arrived on his first day a the facility. The guards took control of the teen after he complained he was unable to continue running laps. Hours later, the youth was dead. The news Friday afternoon rippled through the state Capitol, where the Legislature was wrapping up a contentious session before going home. Before leaving, the Legislature passed the Martin Lee Anderson Act, to shut down the state's four remaining boot camps and replace them with a less militaristic approach. [MORE] and [MORE] and [MORE]

• Video | Boot camp beating (edited version) [MORE]
  
• Video | Boot camp beating (full unedited version) [MORE]
• COVER UP: Secretary Anthony Schembri told the Miami Herald that he was unaware of 180 use-of-force reports from the Panama City boot camp - including manhandling of teens for shrugging or smiling - and that he could not have done anything if he had known. Just why is he still on the job? [MORE]