Lawsuit: NOPD Busts into Home on Marijuana Search - White Officer Fatally Shoots Unarmed, Shirtless Black Man

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From [HERE] The family of a Black man who was fatally shot during a drug raid in Gentilly a year ago filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city of New Orleans. Relatives of Wendell Allen accuse the New Orleans Police Department of various civil rights violations in connection with the deadly shooting on March 7, 2012.

Officer Joshua Colclough, who is white, fired a single bullet into the chest of Allen, 20, while police executed a search warrant related to a marijuana investigation at Allen's Prentiss Street home, NOPD has alleged -as the home had been under surveillance for marijuana sale activity.

Allen - shirtless and wearing only jeans and sneakers in the home's stairwell -- had no weapons on him. Several children between the ages of 1 and 14 were inside the house when Allen was killed. A state grand jury indicted Colclough on one count of manslaughter in Allen's death, and he awaits trial. A date has not been set.

Before he was gunned down, the suit states, Allen attended Navarro College in Texas, but he returned to New Orleans to be near his family. Allen worked for Richard's Disposal; and on the day he was shot, he had just come home from playing basketball with his friends and was resting in Davin's upstairs room. Members of NOPD's 3rd District narcotics unit subsequently broke down the door to the Allen residence. Allen heard cursing, crying and screaming, so he started running down the stairs to see what was happening, the suit asserts.

Allen was shot. The police discovered about 4 ½ ounces of marijuana, and Davin Allen was charged with simple possession in Municipal Court. In the lawsuit, Davin Allen alleges he was unjustly booked following the raid. Police never linked Wendell Allen to the pot, the suit says.

The suit alleges that the children in the home when Allen was killed have since been suffering from nightmares, crying spells, anxiety and fears that the police are going to murder Davin Allen. The city is culpable, the suit says in part, because it has failed to properly screen, supervise, discipline, train and control its police officers.

The plaintiffs also allege that the police subjected them to gross negligence, intentional emotional distress and a litany of other indignities.

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white collective power = White Judge Gives No Jail Time to White Birmingham Officer who Beat Handcuffed Black Man

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Sentencing Guidelines Do Not Apply to White Cops/Defendants who Terrorize Non-Whites From [MORE] On Thursday U.S. District Court Judge Inge Johnson (in photo) sentenced white Birmingham police officer Corey Hooper to five years probation, including six months home detention, for his conviction last fall on an excessive force charge related to hitting a handcuffed Black man in the backseat of a patrol car in 2007.

A federal prosecutor said after the hearing that prosecutors will review the sentence for a possible appeal of the sentence. The prosecutor had suggested more than seven years in prison.

Last year a federal jury in a civil trial of a lawsuit filed against Hooper found that Hooper had used excessive force against Gulley for the same incident. The jury awarded Gulley $71,290 in the case. Gulley's injuries were so severe he had to go to the hospital three separate times, Gulley's attorney Wendy Brooks Crew told jurors.

According to the lawsuit, Gulley had been arrested and was in handcuffs in the back of a police car when Hooper, who was not the arresting officer, pulled him from a patrol car and repeatedly punched him in the face with a closed fist causing severe injury to Gulley. Jurors found that once apprehended, Gulley was not trying to escape and was not posing a threat. The jury deliberated less than an hour and a half before finding Officer Hooper, guilty of depriving Gulley's civil rights. [MORE]

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Wal-Mart Sued over shooting death: Security Guard Shot Black Woman in Head two times for alleged shoplifting - kids present

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From [HERE] The family of a Black woman who was shot and killed last December by an off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the sheriff's deputy and the security company that hired him. Shelly Marie Frey was killed in the Dec. 6 shooting. The off-duty deputy, Louis Campbell, told investigators he feared for his safety when he shot into a car and struck her, saying the driver tried to run him over.

Herschel P. Cashin, an attorney for Frey's famiily, said the officer's actions did not necessitate deadly force. "We allege that this conduct was extremely excessive, unreasonable and grossly negligent," the lawsuit states. "Their policies and procedures should not be to kill a person for shoplifting."

Frey, 27, and two friends entered the Walmart at 10411 North Freeway and allegedly stuffed merchandise into their purses, according to the lawsuit filed by Cashin.

Store loss-prevention officers alerted Campbell and instructed him to detain the women. When he confronted them as they were leaving the store, one allegedly hit him with her purse and ran to the parking lot, the lawsuit says. Sheriff's office officials said that woman was Frey.

Children were in car

Campbell followed the women to a car, where Frey got into the passenger seat and the driver pulled off, according to the lawsuit.

Campbell fired his weapon at least twice, striking Frey twice in the neck, according to the lawsuit. Cashin said two children were inside the vehicle when Campbell fired. According to sheriff's office reports at the time, when Campbell followed the women to the car, he opened the car door and ordered Frey to get out, but she refused.

Two others arrested

The driver began to drive away while Campbell was standing between the open door and the driver's seat. She put the car in reverse and tried to run over the deputy, sheriff's office officials said. Campbell then opened fire. (and why was his gun out, cocked and drawn at the car? bw) 

"The most racist walmart display ever"

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Lawsuit Alleges Cleveland Police Officer Executed Black Man who had Complied with Police Orders

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From [HERE] and [HERE] The mother of a Black man who was shot and killed in downtown Cleveland by an off-duty Cleveland police officer filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Friday morning.

The lawsuit says Cleveland patrol officer Roger Jones used excessive and unreasonable force when he shot Kenneth C. Smith (aka Kenn Ball), 20, in the head after physically removing him from a vehicle on East 9th St. and Prospect Ave. on March 10, 2012. The lawsuit says Smith's mother, Shauna Smith, suffered "great losses" and "emotional distress" as a result of the "wrongful death" of her son. She is asking for damages in an amount to be determined by the court.

"What we've seen so far is this was almost like an execution and then it was covered up because witnesses were told to get out of there -- there has to be some accountability," said Terry Gilbert, Shauna Smith's attorney. 

Police investigators said the incident began when off-duty Cleveland Police Officer Roger Jones saw a suspect firing a weapon from a car outside the bar, and decided to follow the car on foot onto East 9th Street. That’s where he used his cell phone to notify on-duty officers.

After the car was boxed in, police said the driver of the vehicle and the rear seat passenger complied with their commands and were detained, but the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association maintains Kenneth Smith, sitting in the front passenger seat, did not, and that’s when off-duty officer Jones decided to bust out the car window.

Union President Jeff Follmer told Fox 8, “He was given several orders to get out of the car, which he refused. They couldn’t see his hands, at which point a gun was seen, and that’s when the officer fired, because he was in fear for his life.” Officer Jones claims he saw Smith reach for a gun. Then he shot him - while he was still inside the car.

However, the lawsuit says Jones physically removed Smith from the car, placed him on the ground and then shot him in the head, in spite of Smith's attempts to surrender to police. When he was outside of the car on the ground he was no longer near any alleged gun inside of the car. According to the lawsuit, 

"Jones pulled Smith out of the vehicle and ordered Smith to move to the ground. Smith begged Jones not to kill him while raising his arms to surrender. Smith had no weapon or posed any threat to Jones. However, Jones pointed his semi automatic gun toward the left side of Smith's head as Smith complied with the order to get to the ground, and shot him once, at close range. Smith lay gurgling for breath for many minutes before an ambulance was called. He died of the gunshot wound to his head.

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Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against NYPD in Officer Shooting of Latino Man, a victim of a robbery

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From [HERE] The family of a Latino man who was shot to death by a white NYPD officer during a robbery filed a notice of claim for a $25 million wrongful death suit against the city, the NYPD and Ramysh Bangali, the officer who shot him. The officer shot and killed 20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas in September outside his family's bodega in Morrisania when police responded to a call that their store was being robbed. 

Police say three men entered the bodega and barricaded themselves inside when cops arrived. 20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas and the bodega's manager were being held at gunpoint by the masked gunmen inside Aneurys Deli Grocery on Franklin Avenue in Morrisania.

A customer who became aware that a robbery was in progress phoned the police, and four officers were dispatched to the scene. Once they arrived, two of the three men, Orlando Ramos and Ernesto Delgado, ran into the store's backroom, leaving their accomplice, Christopher Dorsey, unarmed and alone. Seizing an opportunity to run, Cuevas and the manager took off towards the door, but, on his way out, Cuevas, who had his head down, reportedly stumbled into an officer who had his gun drawn and was subsequently shot.

It is unclear whether the officer was frightened and dischaged the gun by mistaken fear or if the officer intentionally shot him - the video moves very fast. 

The victim's cousin Jose Garcia said he witnessed the scene and that Cuevas, a nephew of the store's owner, did not have his hands raised as he left the store and cops opened fire on him.

"I saw the police shoot him," Garcia told NBC 4 New York. "He came up, but he didn't put his hands up. And he tripped or something and when he fell on the floor, they shot him."

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(the refinement of white supremacy) South Africa Overseers (officers) plead not guilty to murder in dragging Death of Black Man tied to Police truck

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From [HERE] Nine South African police officers pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of killing a man who died after being dragged behind their van, according to news reports. The police officer driving the vehicle said he was unaware of what was happening to the man when he began pulling away from an agitated crowd, according to Agence France-Presse.

The death of Mido Macia last week outraged South Africans after a video was posted online by the Daily Sun tabloid. The video showed the Mozambican man resisting police who prodded him toward their van, then secured his raised hands to the back of the vehicle amid a crowd of onlookers.

The van then drove away, dragging Macia behind it. He was found dead at the police station several hours later, according to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate watchdog agency, which said Macia had died of  head injuries and internal bleeding.

Protesters stand outside the Benoni court on Friday calling for no bail for the police officers charged with murdering Mido Macia on March 8, 2013

At the hearing Friday, police driver Lungisa Ewababa said he started driving after one of the vehicle windows was broken in the commotion, and didn’t realize Macia was being dragged until another officer told him, the South African Press Assn. reported. The officers then put the man inside the vehicle and drove to the police station, Ewababa reportedly said.

SAPA reported that an attorney for another of the nine accused officers read a statement saying that Macia had grabbed a gun from another officer and pointed it at them before handing it back. The minibus driver had been blocking the road before the scuffle, the officer said.

"I asked him to move and he insulted me and told me I am a useless cop," the statement from Thamsanqa Ncema said, according to SAPA. Macia then grabbed the gun, he said.

"I was caught by surprise to be told that the person had died, as he has never complained about any injuries," the statement from Ncema  said.

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No Need to Knock & Announce: White TV Producer & Detroit officer to stand trial in Murder of 7 Year Old Black Girl

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From [HERE] and [HERE] A Detroit police officer, accused in the fatal shooting of a child during a 2010 raid that was being filmed for a reality cable TV show, will go to trial in May after a judge denied a motion Friday to drop the charges. White police officer Joseph Weekley (in photo) is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm causing death in the shooting of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, who was Black.

Wayne Circuit Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway on Friday denied a motion filed by Weekley's attorney seeking to dismiss the charges. Weekley's trial is set to begin May 29.

Also indicted in 2011 was Allison Howard (in photo), an A&E producer for "The First 48" TV crew following police during the raid. She was indicted on charges of perjury during an investigative subpoena and obstruction of justice. She is also white. Howard will go on trial in June.

The night Aiyana Jones died, Detroit police were searching for murder suspect, Chauncey Owens, who was engaged to Aiyana's aunt, in connection with the May 14, 2010, murder of 18-year-old Jerean Blake. After obtaining a search warrant, police kicked in the front door of the home on Lillibridge, where Owens was thought to be hiding. They threw a flashbang grenade into the downstairs flat of a multi-family home on Lillibridge about 12:40 a.m. and Weekley is accused of firing the bullet that struck and killed the girl, who was sleeping on the couch in the front room of the home. The "flash-bang" light-emitting grenade was meant to distract suspects. 

Aiyana's family, defended by Geoffrey Feiger, claims police attempted to cover up the fatal mistake from the very beginning.

Police arrested Aiyana's grandmother and initially said the gun fired when Weekley engaged in a physical altercation with the woman inside the apartment.

"I said, 'You F'ed up. Gone and killed my grandbaby,' " Mertilla Jones, Aiyana's grandmother told the Detroit News days after the shooting. "One of them yelled, 'Oh s---!' They took her up in their arms and ran out the house with her."

The entire incident, according to Feiger, who said he witnessed the footage possessed by an unnamed source, was captured on film by A&E's "48 Hours," a series that follows homicide investigators during the first two days after a homicide. Feiger has since filed a civil lawsuit in Aiyana's death and said he had concerns the footage might be destroyed by the police department to protect the officer.

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Chicago May Pay $4.5M in Police Murder of Unarmed Black Woman & $1.8M for Police Torture Induced Confession of Black Man Beaten for 10 hours

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From [HERE] Chicago taxpayers may be paying $4.5 million to the family of a Black woman who was killed by an off-duty police officer.

Chicago's City Council Finance Committee will address the proposed lawsuit settlement at their meeting Monday, along with another $1.8 million settlement, according to the committee’s agenda.

The family of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd, who was fatally shot in the back of the head by an off-duty officer in March 2012, filed a wrongful death lawsuit last April.

According to the family's attorney, James Montgomery, the off-duty officer, Dante Servin, got into an argument with the man with whom Boyd was walking. Words were exchanged and Servin pulled his gun and fired shots, hitting both Boyd and her friend.

Neither victim was armed, Montgomery said.

The committee will also address a settlement for $1.8 million in the case of James Andrews who allegedly confessed to two murders because of police torture. The suit names the officers involved, former police lieutenant Jon Burge and former police detectives Daniel McWeeny and Raymond Madigan along with the City of Chicago - all white men.

On April 26, 1983, Chicago police detectives  brought 21-year-old James Andrews in to the Area Two police headquarters on Chicago’s South Side, saying they wanted to question him about a dogfight. But the questioning quickly turned to the unsolved murders of 19-year-old Kevin Lewis and 20-year-old Floyd Jenkins, who had been shot to death in separate incidents on the city’s South Side.

The detectives accused him of the murders. When Andrews – who had no criminal record -- denied involvement, they beat him, using their fists and a flashlight, over a period of nearly 10 hours. Andrews finally signed a confession saying that he and a 22-year-old acquaintance, David Fauntleroy, had robbed Lewis and that Andrews had fatally shot Lewis on March 30, 1983.

The police continued their physical assault as they questioned him about the Jenkins murder. Andrews soon signed a confession to that murder as well. Andrews was convicted of the murder of Jenkins on March 8, 1985. He was convicted of the murder and robbery of Lewis on April 10, 1987. He served 23 years in prison before he was released and exonerated. [MORE] and  [MORE] 

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Three White Homestead Police officers Fired in brutality cases, cover-up of Attack on Latino men

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From [HERE] and [HERE] Two police officers accused of assaulting men outside of Celio's Cuartel Latino bar in Homestead were fired along with another officer who allegedly covered up the incident, a police spokesman said Friday afternoon. The police brutality incident happened nearly three years ago. It involved three officers -- who were fired in February and suspended with pay in April 2011 until last year when they were arrested in July. They have cases pending with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office.

 "You abused your power and preyed on those that you were entrusted to protect," Assistant City Manager Allyson Love wrote in the officers' termination letters. [MORE]

Sgt. Jeffrey Rome is accused of kicking a 69-year-old man in the head until he was unconscious and pepper-spraying an undocumented Guatemalan in the face from close range. While Officer Giovanni Soto allegedly beat up another man so badly with a nightstick that he disfigured his face. Meanwhile, Sgt. Lizanne Deegan is accused of failing to report the beatings.

Immigrant farm workers frequent Celio's Cuartel Latino bar. Homestead detectives who were investigating human trafficking caught the attacks on video and took Arcadio Sosa Rodriguez, 69, to a nearby hospital.

According to a warrant Rodriquez spent a night in the hospital and had cuts and bruises on his ankle, knees and elbow. Rome is also accused of pepper-sprayed another man in the face, handcuffing him to a fence, and sending away an ambulance that the man had called for, according to an arrest warrant.

Soto, who faces a felony battery charge and Deegan are accused of misconduct.

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Local Police, Armed with the Weapons of War, Too Often Mistakenly Shoot and Kill Non-White People

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From [HERE] Nine-year-old Aiyana Jones was sleeping on the couch next to her grandmother when a SWAT team threw a “flashbang” through the window of her Detroit, Michigan home. The “flashbang” – a stun grenade originally developed for wartime raids – immediately set fire to Aiyana’s blanket.  Seconds later, the SWAT team stormed through the door, and confused by the deafening and blinding effects of the “flashbang,” mistakenly shot Aiyana through the neck, killing her.

Questions abound in the wake of this 2010 tragedy. Did the Detroit police truly need amped-up military equipment routinely used in nighttime raids in Iraq and Afghanistan? Did access to the tools and tactics of a combat theater unnecessarily encourage more aggressive policing? If the police had not used a “flashbang,” would Aiyana still be alive?

Aiyana’s sad story is just one piece of evidence showing that our state and local police departments are becoming increasingly militarized – too often with devastating consequences. This trend is worrisome because wartime weapons and counter-terrorism strategies mark a shift in the very nature of policing strategies – and policing should be about community protection, and not about combat.

If the anecdotal evidence is any indication, tanks and counter-terrorism strategies encourage overly aggressive policing. SWAT teams have become a key part of increasingly militarized policing strategies. While only a fraction of SWAT-style raids result in actual charges of any kind, they often provoke fear, hurt individuals and families, and result in damages to personal property.

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"please don't do me like that." Video Shows White Chattanooga Overseers (Officers) Brutally Beating Unarmed Black Man

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Two large white officers beat Mr. Tatum, a Black man, so forcefully that they broke both of his legs in multiple places.  There was no indication that he was resisting arrest or causing harm to himself or others. Nevertheless, the officers overreacted by grabbing him from behind in a choke hold and then hitting him mercilessly no less than 60 times while he sat helplessly on the ground. [MORE] The cops actually get physically tired while beating him. Video was released on Friday. [MORE]  

"The subjugation of people based on color, and/or, by using factors “associated with” color, has resulted in the establishment, maintenance, expansion, and ofttimes refinement of the greatest and MOST EFFECTIVE form of INJUSTICE in the known universe. This injustice is offtimes referred to as “Racism”, and, more specifically referred to as “White Supremacy”.

• In the process of making “non-white” people subject to them, those “white” persons who participate in the practice of White Supremacy do so through the greatest and most sophisticated use of deceit, direct violence, and/or the threat of violence, ever devised by people, among the people of the known universe.

• White Supremacy (Racism) is now the dominant socio-material force among the people of the known universe, NO major problem(s) in the areas of Economics, Education, Entertainment, Labor, Law, Politics, Religion, Sex or War can be SOLVED as long as White Supremacy exists." Neely Fuller [theCode]  

A white supremacist assumes that all non-whites are "enemies of the state" and potential threats to the status quo. The police and court systems are used to intimidate and terrorize non-whites to keep them from rebelling against a racist system." [MORE] 

Philly Cop Videotaped Punching Latino Woman in Face Found Not Guilty by White Judge b/c Videotape Might Have Missed Moments where Cop Wasn't Punching her in Face

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From [HERE] Here is a videotape of a (now former!) Philadephia police officer, Jonathan Josey, punching Aida Guzman after that city’s Puerto Rican Day Parade on September 30, 2012. Guzman was part of an unruly crowd that had gathered following the parade, but the videotape does not show her doing anything to Josey, who believed she had thrown beer at him. On Tuesday, Josey’s non-jury trial for simple assault ended with Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan (in photo) finding Josey not guilty. Dugan said that the video was insufficient evidence:

Dugan said that the media “sensationalized” the incident, which, he added, was captured on an “infamous” 10-second video clip that did not capture the incident in its totality.

Despite being “shocked” by the video, Dugan said, he concluded that Josey had acted within reason when he took a swipe at Guzman.

Racist suspect Judge Dugan is married to Philadelphia Police Officer Nancy Farrell Dugan, who has been on the force since 1997, city payroll records show. She also attended Josey's Feb. 12 nonjury trial, sources said.[more] Dugan made the application of the simple assault jury instruction look impossible: 

Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Criminal Jury Instructions 

The Pennsylvania Bar Institute © 2012. PART TWO - INSTRUCTIONS UNDER THE CRIMES CODE   CHAPTER XV - SPECIFIC OFFENSES UNDER THE CRIMES CODE  

SUBCHAPTER B - OFFENSES INVOLVING DANGER TO THE PERSON

 Pa. SSJI (Crim) 15.2701B

15.2701B - SIMPLE ASSAULT--BODILY INJURY CAUSED

1. The defendant has been charged in count [count] with simple assault. To find the defendant guilty of this offense, you must find that all of the following elements have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt:

First, that the defendant caused bodily injury to [name of victim]. "Bodily injury" means impairment of physical condition or substantial pain; and

Second, that the defendant's conduct in this regard was intentional, knowing, or reckless. A person acts intentionally with respect to bodily injury when it is his or her conscious object or purpose to cause such injury. A person acts knowingly with respect to bodily injury when he or she is aware that it is practically certain that his or her conduct will cause such a result. A person acts recklessly with respect to bodily injury when he or she consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that bodily injury will result from his or her conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and intent of the defendant's conduct and the circumstances known to him or her, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the defendant's situation.

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The Dogs are for You Brother! "Chewing, ripping... devastating": Suit Claims White Lakewood Cop Turned k-9 Loose on Mauled Latino Man

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"The Dog is a white man's best friend" - Malcolm X 

From [HERE] Noel Saldana was brutally mauled by a Lakewood Police dog on the night of June 27, 2010, suffering wounds so severe that he was confined to a hospital for 11 days. Saldana said that doctors told him they might need to amputate his left leg.

Saldana said the K-9's attack was completely unexpected, as he said he complied with a police officer's order to get on the ground. "It was a boom, it was so fast, I never been attacked by a dog," said Saldana. "The noise was like a chewing, ripping... devastating."

The dog that attacked Saldana was Astor, handled by Lakewood Officer James Syler. Syler's side of the story differs from Saldana's. According to Syler’s police report, he gave a loud verbal warning saying, “Police Department, this area is being searched by a police dog. If there is anyone in this area come out and identify yourself or the dog will find you and he will bite you.” 

Syler said Saldana was trying to hide under bushes and Astor was appropriately used to find him. Saldana's injuries were the result of trying to fight off the dog, Syler said.

Saldana was never charged with a crime. Permanently disabled by Astor's bites, he is now suing the City of Lakewood and Syler. Saldana said the white cop purposefully turned the dog loose on him. The officer commanded the K-9, "Get 'em boy!."

The incident involving Saldana raises questions about how Lakewood Police enforce guidelines governing the use of K-9s, and it highlights how police dogs are every bit as capable of causing serious injury as the firearms, tasers and batons carried by officers.

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Prosecutors say White Memphis Overseers (Officers) Still Under Investigation: Cops Fatally Shot Black Man Sleeping in his Car

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From [HERE]  Two white Memphis police officers who shot and killed a Black man found sleeping in his car outside an apartment complex may be charged after all. Two weeks ago, Officers Ned Aufdenkamp and Matthew Dyess were put back on the job. Memphis police said the district attorney completed her investigation and found them free of any wrongdoing, but Wednesday we found out that’s not the case.

Both officers were called to an apartment complex January 13,2013. When they arrived,  they said they saw a Black man slumped over the wheel in his car and they went to check on the man. According to Memphis police Sgt. Alyssa Macon-Moore, the man then pulled out a gun. Officers immediately opened fire, killing him.

“That statement says we’ve done our job and the district attorney has done her job and you don’t need to worry about these two officers. We are putting them back on the force,” said Attorney Howard Manis, who represents Steven Askew’s family who plans to file suit against the City.

The Memphis Police Department issued a press release February 15th, stating in bold letters, “All information surrounding this case was presented to the Attorney General’s Office and it was determined that no criminal charges will be filed.”

“I can’t speak to why they issued the press statement,” said District Attorney Amy Weirich.

Weirich says the case is not closed, “The bottom line is this file is in our office and is being reviewed by our office.” It means Officers Aufdenkamp and Dyess could still be held responsible for shooting and killing 24-year-old Askew.

“He was waiting for his girlfriend, minding his own business, sleeping in his car, and now he is dead,” said Manis. The family’s attorney believes MPD sent out the press statement to justify its reinstatement of the officers. “It’s horrible,” said Manis.  “These officers, especially for the officer with the checkered past to immediately be reinstated.”

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"Floor was Covered in Blood": Video shows White Chattanooga Police in Graphic beating of Unarmed Black Man

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Police Chief Sought FBI & Criminal Charges against Outlaw Cops. From [HERE] and [HERE] Surveillance video released Wednesday afternoon shows two white Chattanooga police officers savagely beating a Black federal inmate last summer at the Salvation Army on McCallie Avenue.

The lobby floor of the Salvation Army — where former federal inmates are housed — was mostly covered in blood. "That floor was covered," said Robin Flores, who filed a $50 million lawsuit on behalf of a 37-year-old Chattanooga man beaten by police. "It was like someone took a ketchup bottle and shook it around and sprayed it. "It makes Rodney King look tame. It's bad."[MORE]

The lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court names two former Chattanooga police officers, three current police officers, 11 unidentified police officers, the city and Erlanger Health Systems. Flores released the video Wednesday night after obtaining the footage through discovery after he filed a motion for post-conviction relief. The media has only released the above photo. 

Officers had responded to a disorder at the facility where Tatum was reportedly kicking a door of the office and had a knife. Flores said former Officers Adam Cooley and Sean Emmer (in photo) along with other officers on the scene and hospital staff did nothing to help Tatum once he was injured and in custody.

As a result of the incident, Cooley and Emmer were fired. James Smith, one of the first responding officers, was not disciplined. Federal authorities have opened an investigation into Emmer and Cooley's actions. Tatum remains incarcerated at Silverdale Correctional Facility. He uses a cane to walk, Flores said.

Police said at the time Tatum kept fighting and claimed he had a knife. They said they used Mace and a stun gun on Tatum, but neither seemed to affect him. They continued to strike Tatum until he stopped fighting, they said in earlier newspaper stories.

However, the video shows Tatum on the floor much of the time, pleading with officers to stop striking him. Tatum suffered six fractures to his right leg and two fractures to his left leg, including a compound fracture.

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Don't Hold Your Breath in Derek Williams Case. Expect More Racism: White Cops who Watched Black Man Die for 15 Minutes "Might" Face Maximum Penalty of 9 Months in Jail

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 From [HERE] A year and a half after Derek Williams' death in Milwaukee police custody, the justice system's involvement in the case is just beginning. An inquest jury's ruling Thursday that three police officers should be charged with misdemeanors in connection with Williams' death marks the first formal decision in what could be a very long process. The case could take many more months - or even years - to wind its way through the courts: state and federal, criminal and civil. It marked the first time an inquest jury in Milwaukee County has recommended charges against a police officer in at least 25 years.

Inquest verdicts are advisory. It will be up to special prosecutor John Franke, perhaps in cooperation with the state Department of Justice, to decide whether to issue the charges. Franke left court without comment after the verdict was announced.

Williams suffocated to death while handcuffed, naked from a strip search, in the back of a police car. He repeatedly told white police officers he couldn't breathe for at least 15 minutes between the time of his arrest and his death. They repeatedly ignore him as he suffocated to death. It is captured on graphic video which was released in September. (graphic video, no sound for first minute) [MORE]

Three of the officers involved in the arrest of Williams, who died after gasping for air in the back of a squad car, should be charged with failure to render aid by a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail, jurors concluded. (about 2 weeks in jail for every minute they ignored his pleas for help. -BW)

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Victims of White Supremacy Call for Accountability in Chicago Police Involved Shootings (keep waiting)

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In photo, Flint Farmer who was gunned down by Officer Gildardo Sierra while holding his cellphone. The officer admitted to drinking “multiple” beers before his shift. But don't blame the alcohol - or the gun. 

From [HERE] There has been a lot of outcry about murders in Chicago, but not enough for those who die at the hands of police, said an organizer of "A Peoples Hearing on Police Crimes" Saturday.

More than 100 community members and relatives of those affected by police-involved shootings and police brutality attended the forum at the University of Chicago.

"Politicians are flapping like a flock of wild geese about gun control and stopping killings like that of Hadiya Pendleton," said Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression. "They say nothing about police killing... We have come today to break this silence."

Chapman said the group doesn't oppose police when they serve and protect the public. But the group takes issue when they see instances of police abusing their power.

"We must separate the good officers from the bad officers. That's what we're here to do," Jeff Baker, a member of the steering committee for a group called Stop Police Crimes.

Earlier this month, the city settled a case with the family of Flint Farmer, who was shot and killed in 2011 by a police officer who thought Farmer was armed. He was not. That officer, Gildardo Sierra, had been drinking prior to his shift, and was responsible for two other shooting deaths.

In January, the city paid $33 million to other victims of police misconduct. Alton Logan spent 26 years in prison after being tortured by infamous police Cmdr. Jon Burge to get a confession. And Christina Eilman, a mentally ill California woman, was sexually assaulted and thrown from a high-rise in 2006 after police released her from custody near the now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes.

Speakers called for the creation of an Civilian Police Accountability Council, whose members would be democratically elected, to oversee cases of alleged police misconduct. The current oversight committee, the Independent Police Review Authority, is staffed by civilians, and its chief administrator is appointed by the mayor.

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Victims of White Supremacy protest against 'border brutality' (powerless people cannot make demands)

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From [HERE] Some local families are banding together, demanding justice for loved ones they say were killed by Border Patrol agents or Customs Officers. The relatives held a protest Saturday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry against what they call "border brutality."

"What do we need to do for you to stop?" said Valentin Tachiquin. (Replace White Supremacy/Racism with Justice [theCode]

Tachiquin's emotional outcry at the San Ysidro Port of Entry caught the attention of everyone, including people who were simply walking by. "Nine shots to kill my daughter!" he shouted.

Tachiquin's daughter, Valeria Munique was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on a Chula Vista street back in September. Investigators say the mother of five was trying to leave the scene of an apparent criminal search and had used her car as a weapon. Witnesses contradict this account. 

Her father says "We are tired -- it's just too much. He went above and beyond of police brutality," he said. Tachiquin is one of several people who shared stories about losing a loved one at the hands of Border Patrol agents.

Reyna Guerrero's nephew, Carlos was just 19 years old when he was killed at the Arizona-Mexico border in March of 2011, after he allegedly ran from police.

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FBI says Former warden, other top Allegheny County Jail officers helped cover up abuse, Beating of Black Man

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From [HERE] A former warden and other top officers in the Allegheny County Jail helped cover up the 2010 brutal beating of an inmate, the FBI says in a secret file the Tribune-Review obtained.

Ex-Maj. James Donis, 50, was sentenced last week to eight months in a halfway house, plus five years' probation, for falsifying reports to hide how he physically abused Gary Barbour, 31, after the inmate's bungled April 6, 2010, prison escape.

The internal FBI file, containing more than 1,000 pages and photos, reveals that officers other than Donis sanitized incident reports; failed to investigate when alerted to the abuse; lied repeatedly to investigators; and allegedly retaliated against a guard suspected of telling on Donis, the fourth highest-ranking official in the jail.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton on Monday defended focusing prosecution on Donis but wouldn't say why the office did not prosecute others.

“The protection of civil rights is a top priority — this includes the civil rights of incarcerated prisoners who are protected under the law from beating and excessive force by prison guards,” Hickton said in a written statement to the Trib. “Mr. Donis was a major in the prison system and, as such, occupied a position of leadership and trust. The decision to prosecute him was based upon the law and the facts. He pled guilty. While we asked for a prison sentence, we respect the decision of the court, and justice was done.”

Hickton declined to comment on another explosive revelation that the file contains: A jail officer became FBI Confidential Source S-00032885, wearing a wire that recorded Donis and others inside the prison on two occasions.

To protect the informant's safety, the Tribune-Review won't disclose the name. Barbour, the inmate who was beaten, filed a federal civil suit seeking $1.2 million in damages for his physical and mental injuries allegedly resulting from his abuse at the jail.

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