CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As two red laser dots from stun guns flashed on his chest, Jonathan Ferrell hitched up his pants and held out his arms to show officers he was unarmed, his family’s attorney told the Observer on Tuesday.
Ferrell then ran sideways on a dark road in northeast Charlotte Saturday, said the attorney, Chris Chestnut.
Chestnut said Ferrell went out of view of a police cruiser’s dashboard camera.
Then came three quick volleys of gunshots.
“It’s one, two, three, four – pause,” said Chestnut, counting off the shots he heard. “One, two, three, four, five, six – pause. One, two.”
Chestnut said that’s when he heard officers yell “Get down.”
Officer Randall Kerrick fired his gun 12 times, hitting Ferrell 10 times. Ferrell, 24, died at the scene.
Kerrick, one of three officers who confronted the former college football player, was charged later that day with voluntary manslaughter.
Chestnut’s account of the dash cam video, which he said he viewed Tuesday, along with the release of a 911 tape, provide the most complete picture to date of what happened the night Ferrell died.
Around 2:30 a.m., Ferrell crashed a Toyota Camry in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood in northeast Mecklenburg, police said. His family’s attorney says he looked for help at a home about one-quarter mile away.
A woman who saw him at the door thought he was a robber and dialed 911.
Kerrick was joined by Officers Thornell Little and Adam Neal. Kerrick, a third-year officer, was the least experienced of the three.
Chestnut said the footage shows Ferrell, who played for Florida A&M and had recently moved to Charlotte, was not a deadly threat and that the shooting was unjustified.
But Kerrick’s attorney, Michael Greene said Kerrick’s decision to shoot was legal. Greene could not immediately be reached Tuesday to comment about the video.
“We’re confident at the resolution of this case it will be found that Officer Kerrick’s actions were justified on the night in question,” Greene said.
Greene appeared on Kerrick’s behalf Tuesday at his initial court appearance Tuesday. Kerrick is free on $50,000 bail.
Charlotte Mecklenburg police did not respond when asked to comment on Chestnut’s account. A frightened 911 call
The 911 call came to police dispatch at 2:36 a.m.
Frantic and crying, the caller said a man had tried to force his way into her home.
On the 17-minute recording, the woman says she thought her husband was coming home from work.
Instead, she encountered a man later identified as Ferrell. She fought to get the door closed. She said he was trying to kick it down.
“There’s a guy breaking in my front door,” she said. “He’s trying to get in.”
It took officers about 11 minutes to arrive.
As the woman spoke to the dispatcher, the recording paints a picture of a chaotic scene. The home’s alarm system blared. A representative from a security company talked to her over a speaker while she relayed information to police. The family dog was barking.
The woman worried about her baby, asleep in a nearby room.
She told the dispatcher she couldn’t remember where her husband kept his gun.
Ninety seconds into the call, a man can be heard loudly saying, “Hello?” The rest of his words are garbled.
It’s unclear if the voice was Ferrell’s.
The dispatcher asks if the man is in the house. “He’s not in the house he’s in the front yard yelling. Oh my God, please, I can’t believe I opened the door. I don’t know what the f*** is wrong with me,” she said.
Six minutes into the call the woman says she thinks the man left her property “because we have a security motion light and it turned off.”
More than 11 minutes into the call, the woman said she could see officers.
The dispatcher said one would likely come to her door. But the woman began screaming when she saw them running away.
“Oh my god, where is he going? Why is he running? What the f***?...Oh my God, they really left. There’s three cops and they all left.”
The dispatcher asked the woman if she was still safe in her house.
“They might have seen him,” the dispatcher says. “They might have gone to get him.” Dash cam video
The dash cam video lasts about 20 seconds, Chestnut said.
Chestnut said the police cruiser that captured the footage was parked in the street leading into the subdivision.
Police have not said how far Ferrell and the officers were from the house.
Chestnut said Ferrell walked toward officers when he came into view.
Ferrell was walking away from the house, barefoot. Ferrell likely lost his shoes in the car wreck, kicking his way out the Camry’s back window, Chestnut said.
Police have said Ferrell may have been looking for help after the wreck.
“He starts walking a little faster” toward the officers when he saw them, Chestnut said. He said police officers immediately pointed their Tasers at Ferrell’s chest, from what Chestnut estimated was a distance of 20 feet. “You see two laser beams right on his chest.”
Chestnut said the footage showed Ferrell pulled his pants up above waist level. He interpreted that as a move by Ferrell to show he had no weapons. Ferrell then turned to the side and started running away. He may have been heading toward Kerrick, Chestnut said. Ferrell’s arms were outstretched in front of him, hands empty, Chestnut said.
“He made no threatening comments. It was clearly apparent he had no weapons,” Chestnut said. “He never reached” for his waistband while running or anyplace a weapon could be concealed, Chestnut said.
Ferrell ran out of the camera’s frame just before the shots, Chestnut said.
“There were no commands to ‘Stop, freeze, stop or I’ll shoot,’” said Chestnut.
The first commands from officers, Chestnut said, came after the shooting stopped.
“By the time they stop shooting, then they start saying, ‘Get on the ground, get on the ground,’” Chestnut said. “He had already been shot.”
A suburban barber takes on city hall, and wins. John Collins says he spent a year in jail for a crime he did not commit. In 2006 Collins says he was wrongfully charged with aggravated battery to a police officer. A jury later acquitted him and he was released from Cook County jail in 2007. He later sued the city for false police charges. On Tuesday a cook county jury awarded him one million dollars. NBC5’s Natalie Martinez reports.
Cook County jurors on Tuesday awarded $1 million to a man who was wrongfully held in jail for more than a year.
John Collins, a 42-year-old Chicago barber, was arrested in 2006 and spent 385 days in jail due to false charges of aggravated battery to a police office, officials said.
After a three-day trial, a jury found the city of Chicago and Chicago police Officer Michael Garza guilty of malicious prosecution.
“I felt like a right in the pool of wrong,” Collins said of his time in jail. “I didn’t want to swim in that pool no more, but I didn’t want to drown either. So I kept fighting.”
When officers pulled Collins over in 2006, he’d just left his salon.
One officer accused him of kicking and spitting on them, but a jury acquitted Collins and he was released from Cook County in 2007.
“All I know is that I ended up a victim,” he said.
Collins said the trauma and distress is still with him.
“I was just devastated,” he said. “I was just devastated.”
Collins missed the birth of his now 7-year-old son Elwood while in jail, a moment he said he can never get back.
Since his release, Collins has worked continuously in his Dolton salon, and noted the verdict brings him a step closer to having his life back.
“I’m thankful that someone’s seen justice,” he said.
A spokesman for the city's Law Department said they are "disappointed" in the verdict in the case and said they plan to "explore all available options including an appeal."
A suburban barber takes on city hall, and wins. John Collins says he spent a year in jail for a crime he did not commit. In 2006 Collins says he was wrongfully charged with aggravated battery to a police officer. A jury later acquitted him and he was released from Cook County jail in 2007. He later sued the city for false police charges. On Tuesday a cook county jury awarded him one million dollars. NBC5’s Natalie Martinez reports.
A suburban barber takes on city hall, and wins. John Collins says he spent a year in jail for a crime he did not commit. In 2006 Collins says he was wrongfully charged with aggravated battery to a police officer. A jury later acquitted him and he was released from Cook County jail in 2007. He later sued the city for false police charges. On Tuesday a cook county jury awarded him one million dollars. NBC5’s Natalie Martinez reports.
Cook County jurors on Tuesday awarded $1 million to a man who was wrongfully held in jail for more than a year.
John Collins, a 42-year-old Chicago barber, was arrested in 2006 and spent 385 days in jail due to false charges of aggravated battery to a police office, officials said.
After a three-day trial, a jury found the city of Chicago and Chicago police Officer Michael Garza guilty of malicious prosecution.
“I felt like a right in the pool of wrong,” Collins said of his time in jail. “I didn’t want to swim in that pool no more, but I didn’t want to drown either. So I kept fighting.”
When officers pulled Collins over in 2006, he’d just left his salon.
One officer accused him of kicking and spitting on them, but a jury acquitted Collins and he was released from Cook County in 2007.
“All I know is that I ended up a victim,” he said.
Collins said the trauma and distress is still with him.
“I was just devastated,” he said. “I was just devastated.”
Collins missed the birth of his now 7-year-old son Elwood while in jail, a moment he said he can never get back.
Since his release, Collins has worked continuously in his Dolton salon, and noted the verdict brings him a step closer to having his life back.
“I’m thankful that someone’s seen justice,” he said.
A spokesman for the city's Law Department said they are "disappointed" in the verdict in the case and said they plan to "explore all available options including an appeal."
A New Jersey man has been freed from prison after spending 19 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. The judge threw out the man’s conviction after new revelations in DNA testing, a technology that was not available during his 1995 murder trial, demonstrated that he was not guilty.
The man, Gerard Richardson, had been convicted in the murder of Monica Reyes, a 19-year-old woman who was found in a ditch in north-central New Jersey’s Bernards Township. Evidence used in the initial case was a bite mark on Reyes’ back, which was linked by prosecuting attorneys to Richardson. The new DNA evidence proved that Richardson’s DNA was not present in the bite mark.
The new testing was brought about by the Innocent Project, which has reopened cases that lacked DNA testing that could have proved people were wrongly imprisoned. Richardson is the organization’s latest success story.
According to sources on the scene, Richardson appeared as if he still could barely comprehend that he was actually leaving jail when he was released on a $5,000 bail.
“I’m starting to believe it now, the cold air’s hitting me,” Richardson said as he left the courthouse, according to The Daily Mail, “I’m just happy to be home. It’s been a long road. This is one step closer to me rebuilding my life.”
Richardson did admit his drug dealing past but claimed that he was not involved in Reyes’ murder. “I wasn’t no angel, but I didn’t kill anybody,” Richardson said.
When the first slave stepped off the slave ship, do you think he looked back at the others and said, "Oh Shit, This ain't gonna be too cool"! These Europeans' folks owned Africans like they owned dogs, cats, cows, horses and other animals on the planet they domesticated. They've been whipping our asses for 500 years. All we do is complain and try to get along with these suckers. It AIN'T WORKING!!!!! 500 YEARS!!!!!! It AIN'T WORKING!!!! What the hell are we GOING TO DO ABOUT IT??? Complain for 500 more years or wait until they kill us all or we all kill each other????? Bottom line, we're just the kids of two parents that were born into a country that hates thoroughly our BLACK BEHINDS to the max. They've more than SHOWN US ALL. African-American my butt!!!!!!
Linking arms with his mother, Kash Delano Register walked out of jail Friday, freed after being locked away for 34 years for a crime he did not commit. Beverly White reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2013.
A judge threw out the conviction of a 53-year-old Los Angeles man who's spent 34 years behind bars for murder after two sisters of a key witness said the account of what their sibling saw was a lie.
Kash Delano Register was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for killing 78-year-old Jack Sasson in April of 1979, but has always maintained his innocence.
Linking arms with his mother, Register walked out of jail a free man Friday afternoon. He said he was looking forward to enjoying a home-cooked meal from his mother for the first time in more than three decades.
Tears streamed down Register's face in the courtroom earlier Friday as a judge revealed his conviction with would be overthrown.
"He told me he just didn’t know what to feel," said his attorney Adam Grant, who spoke to him after Thursday's ruling. "He's thrilled, excited, just kind of in a daze. He kept shaking his head and saying -- '34 years, 34 years.'"
Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent, dedicated to the exoneration of the wrongfully convicted, took on Register's case two years ago. Piles of paperwork and investigation by students and staff lead them to believe the man was innocent.
"People should look at this and say even when we think we're doing the best we can, we make mistakes, we make really serious mistakes that affect people's lives," said Laurie Levenson, director of Project for the Innocent.
"In this case, the two eyewitnesses, they're stories didn't make a lot of sense, there wasn't any physical evidence and the most important thing, our client, Mr. Register, had said from the beginning he didn't do it," Leveson said.
Register was convicted mainly on eyewitness testimony.
Brenda Anderson identified Register as the gunman, even though he had an alibi that he was with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting.
Anderson testified that she heard shots from across the street as she was about to get into the shower that day and that she saw somebody "running in between some apartments, run back and shoot two more times."
Two of Anderson's sisters said their sibling lied about seeing Register running away from the crime scene.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations claim that Kendrick Johnson’s death was an accident
AFRICANGLOBE – In a scathing report recently, the coroner in the case of a Georgia teen found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat blasted how the initial investigation was handled.
Authorities say Kendrick Johnson fell into the mat and suffocated while trying to retrieve a sneaker. His family suspects the 17-year-old was murdered and that someone has tried to cover up evidence in the case.
“I was not notifedi n (sic) this death until 15:45 hours. The investigative climate was very poor to worse when I arrived on the scene. The body had been noticably (sic) moved. The scene had been compromised and there was no cooperation from law enforcement at the scene. Furthermore the integrity of the evidence bag was compromised on January 13, 2013 by opening the sealed bag and exhibiting the dead body to his father,” wrote Lowndes County Coroner Bill Watson in a report dated January 22.
“I do not approve of the manner this case was handled. Not only was the scene compromised, the body was moved. The integrrety (sic) was breached by opening a sealed body bag, information necessary for my lawful investigation was withheld,” he said.
The coroner’s death investigation report was obtained through an open records request directed at the coroner’s office.
A second coroner’s death investigation report was provided by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
The second report, which is not signed nor dated, is not nearly as critical as the first.
“I was not called by investigating officers regarding this death until the afore listed time of notification,” it read.
It was not immediately clear why there were two coroner’s reports. The inconsistencies between them were also not clear.
When contacted, a lawyer for the Lowndes County sheriff and the Lowndes County coroner declined to address specific questions about the reports.
“In light of the US attorney’s review of this matter, the Lowndes County sheriff and the Lowndes County coroner will not comment further on this case. They will fully cooperate and respond to all inquiries of the United States attorney,” Jim Elliott wrote in an e-mail.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Macon, Georgia, opened an investigation into the case last week.
While warning his jurisdiction is limited as a federal prosecutor, Michael Moore, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said that after a lengthy review of evidence collected by authorities and the family’s own investigator, “sufficient basis exists” to warrant a formal review of the facts.
A Georgia judge on Thursday ruled that pending the outcome of that review, he will decide whether to order a coroner’s inquest. Johnson’s parents had asked for the inquest. A lawyer for them said they would appeal.
Family Questions Video Oddities
Also Thursday, lawyers for Kendrick Johnson’s family raised questions about apparent discrepancies in newly released surveillance images, including missing time codes, gaps and a mysteriously blurry and out-of-position camera that should have been pointed right at the spot where authorities found Kendrick Johnson’s body some 10 months ago.
The surveillance images were provided by authorities after a judge ruled they must be released.
For instance, in one image, a man seen walking away from the gym in what appears to be an image captured late at night suddenly disappears from a series of images shot by a motion-activated camera. Other images shot at other times capture people walking in that same location, attorney Chevene King said.
In another example, King showed reporters images from a camera that he said should have shown the place where authorities say Johnson fell into a gym mat and suffocated. The image was blurry and out of position, he said.
While stopping short of directly accusing authorities of deliberately tampering with the evidence, King said problems with the surveillance are only the latest in a series of oddities that have drawn national attention to Kendrick Johnson’s death. His bloody body was found rolled up in a mat at Lowndes High School on January 11.
A state medical examiner ruled his death accidental, despite evidence of a neck injury found in a second autopsy conducted by a pathologist hired by the family. His fingernails had been clipped, his clothes were missing and his organs had been removed and replaced by newspaper.
“We have had what I think is a series of events that causes you to raise the question, when does a coincidence stop being a coincidence,” King told reporters Wednesday in Valdosta, Georgia.
King demanded that authorities hand over originals of the surveillance video showing time codes and other evidence that he said could show whether the materials had been tampered with.
Elliott, the attorney for Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine, said that his client has confirmed the video had not been altered or edited by anyone within the sheriff’s office. An attorney for the school likewise said that what was provided to the sheriff’s office was the raw feed with no edits.
Kendrick Johnson’s father, Kenneth Johnson, angrily demanded justice, calling authorities corrupt and vowing the family will not stop until they get answers to what happened to his son.
“The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, the D.A.’s office, they convict people all the time inside this courthouse,” he said. “Should they not be held responsible for the lies they are telling and for the corruption?
"Unreasonable Force" In Chicago Evidently Does Not Mean A Probably Drunk Cop Killing An Unarmed Guy Lying On the Ground By Shooting Him 16 Times
by Abby Zimet
Chicago prosecutors have announced that police officer Gildardo Sierra will not face any criminal charges in the June 2011 killing of Flint Farmer - even though video footage showed Farmer, armed only with a cell phone, lying bleeding on the ground as Sierra fired 16 times, hitting Farmer seven times including three bullets in the back; this was Sierra’s third shooting (second fatal one) in six months; he later admitted to drinking "multiple" beers before going to work; police waited over five hours to give him a breath test; the city paid a $4.1 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by Farmer's family; and the city's police Superintendent said the shooting was a "big problem," as was Sierra's remaining on the job. Still, a review found Sierra acted in self-defense, and that while "Officer Sierra was mistaken in his belief that Flint Farmer had a gun, not every mistake demands the action of the criminal justice system, even when the results are tragic." The city has already paid out about $50 million to settlelawsuits stemming from similarly outrageous cases, and many are stil rallying, protestingand fighting to break the silence on decades of police racism, brutality and torture there. Oh, Chicago. Oh, America.
Yesterday we told you about the case of Ryan Ferguson, a Missouri man who was imprisoned as a teen for a murder he did not commit, and was finally freed this week after almost 10 years in prison. Today, an even more bizarre tale of a court system out of control comes from New York.
This one involves an alleged robbery, not a murder, and a story that seems even more surreal. New York’s WABC TV broke the mind-bogglng story of Kalief Browder, a Bronx teenager who was let out of Rikers Island where he served three years — without ever being convicted of anything.
The Kafkaesque nightmare started in May of 2010, according to WABC, Browder (pictured) was walking home from a party, along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
He was 16 years old, in the 10th grade.
“This guy comes out of nowhere and says I robbed him,” the now-20-year-old Browder told the TV station. “And the next thing I know they are putting cuffs on me. I don’t know this dude. And I do over three years for something I didn’t do.”
Bail was set for $10,000. His family couldn’t afford to pay. He was given a legal aid attorney who did nothing to help.
There was no evidence against Browder, says his new lawyer, Paul Prestia, who represents the young man in a civil suit he’s filed. Beyond the one witness who accused Browder, a stranger whom Browder had never met, there was no physical evidence, no supposedly stolen property or money recovered, no other witnesses — nothing.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees people accused of a crime the right to a speedy trial. But Bronx County prosecutors seemed to let that little provision slip their minds.
Browder was repeatedly hauled into court. Each time, he thought he was going home. Each time, he was sent back to Rikers Island, one of the toughest prisons in the country.
“It’s very hard when you are dealing with dudes that are big and have weapons and shanks and there are gangs,” Browder recounted for WABC. “You know if you don’t give your phone call up, or you don’t give them what they want you know they are going to jump you. And it’s very scary.”
At one point, after sitting in jail for 33 months, he went before a judge and was told that he should accept a plea deal and he would be given credit for time served. Browder refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit, even though he was warned that he was facing a 15-year sentence.
So they sent him back to Rikers.
Then, in June of this year, the case was dismissed and all charges dropped. Browder was free, but not happy.
“I didn’t get to go to prom or graduation,” he said. “Nothing. Those are the main years. They are the main years. And I am never going to get those years back. Never. Never.”
He was released just as suddenly and mysteriously as he was arrested.
“They just dismissed the case and they think it’s all right. No apology, no nothing,” he said. “They just say ‘case dismissed, don’t worry about nothing.’ What do you mean, don’t worry about nothing? You just took 3 years of my life.”
The Bronx District Attorney’s office would not say anything to WABC, citing Browder’s lawsuit.
View WABC’s story on this bizarre and outrageous case of justice gone wild in the video below.
So, after 10 years, the "state" of New York, i.e., people/businesses with government contracts, at a rate of "$167,731.00 a year per prisoner, made approximately $1,677,310.00 on this one prisoner; now, add that amount for each prisoner . . . Neo-Jim Crow/"Convict Leasing" is a very Profitable "Investment", with "Wrongful Convictions" being no more than neo-Convict Leasing".
Posted: Saturday, November 16, 2013 7:00 pm | Updated: 1:25 am, Sun Nov 17, 2013.
By George Mattar and Jo Ciavaglia Staff writers
What started out as a routine arrest for retail theft ended in a handcuffed 14-year-old boy escaping from a police car and getting shocked by a Taser gun.
A friend of the boy’s family made a Facebook post about the incident, the facts of which are unclear, even as to what day it occurred at the Tullytown Wal-Mart. It reportedly occurred either Wednesday or Thursday.
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said Saturday his office is not investigating the claims, but said if the boy’s mother comes forward and complains, he would look into it. As of Saturday, his office had not heard from the boy’s mother.
At issue is whether police should have used a Taser to subdue a 14-year-old.
Heckler gave this account of what happened.
Tullytown police were called to Wal-Mart for a shoplifting incident.
Police took three males into custody. While in the back of a patrol car in handcuffs, one of them got away and started running toward Route 13.
Police gave chase, repeatedly warning the youth to stop.
Seeing the teen running toward Route 13 with his handcuffed hands behind his back, police feared for his safety. They warned him he would be hit with a Taser.
Heckler said he was told the police officer gave a warning to stop or he would use his Taser gun.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that police did warn the youth several times, Heckler said.
Not seeing him stop, police fired a Taser barb, hitting the boy in the shoulder and cheek.
The boy fell down. He was taken to a hospital and treated. He was then taken to the county juvenile detention center in Doylestown Township as he was under a juvenile probation violation, Heckler said.
Heckler’s office was made aware of the incident when Assistant District Attorney Michelle Walsh, who handles juvenile cases, was made aware of it.
Heckler said there is no indication anyone used force on the boy.
Heckler added he has not yet spoken to the boy, his mother or witnesses.
However, Heckler said juvenile probation spoke to the boy.
Heckler also said the boy told his probation officer that no one ever touched him.
“If the mother has accusations to make, she can make them. I don’t believe her son would corroborate,” Heckler said. “We’re satisfied. There is no reason to believe Tullytown police misconducted themselves.”
Tullytown Police Chief Dan Doyle said, “The police department is aware of the misinformation that has been circulating on social media regarding an arrest made by Tullytown officers. A thorough review of the incident is underway.”
The newspaper reached out to the mother on Facebook, but was unsuccessful in contacting her.
A 14-year-old boy Pennsylvania boy and his 19-year-old cousin were caught shoplifting in a Tulleytown, Pennsylvania Walmart. His mother says he was influenced by the older cousin and made a bad decision, like a lot of teenagers are prone to do. But what happened next has his mother, Marissa Sergeant, questioning the police version of events:
Authorities say after the teen's arrest, and before he was loaded into a police car, he took off running along Route 13 while handcuffed.
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler tells NBC10 that police officers yelled warnings at the teen and fearing for his safety, they fired a stun gun to subdue him. The D.A. says the Taser struck the boy in the face and with his hands cuffed, the boy had no way to brace himself against falling face-first.
"That doesn't sound right. There's no way, if he was running from behind, that he would get hit with a taser in the front of his face," said Sargeant.
You can see an interview with Marissa Sergeant (including more graphic photos of her son)here.
Mom of Alleged Teen Shoplifter Accuses Police of Brutality
The mother of a 14-year old Bucks County boy says her son was assaulted by Tullytown police during an arrest. Now, she's hired a lawyer. NBC10's Rosemary Connors has details.
The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is investigating the alleged assault of a teen boy by police officers.
The mother of the 14-year-old boy, who was arrested for shoplifting, is accusing police of roughing him up.
Editor's Note: A warning that this story contains graphic images.
"The picture speaks a thousand words," says Marissa Sargeant, who shared several graphic photos with NBC10 that shows her son bruised, cut and swollen.
The teen was arrested by Tullytown Police for retail theft at Walmart on Tuesday night, along with an adult relative.
"What he did was wrong. He was coerced by a 19-year-old. He does know better," said Sargeant.
The teen and his 19-year-old cousin Jordan Gibson were both positively identified by Wal-Mart Asset Protection.
Authorities say after the teen's arrest, and before he was loaded into a police car, he took off running along Route 13 while handcuffed.
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler tells NBC10 that police officers yelled warnings at the teen and fearing for his safety, they fired a stun gun to subdue him. The D.A. says the Taser struck the boy in the face and with his hands cuffed, the boy had no way to brace himself against falling face-first.
"That doesn't sound right. There's no way, if he was running from behind, that he would get hit with a taser in the front of his face," said Sargeant.
Sargeant says the officers must have hit or kicked her son, and then told him not to tell anyone. The boy was taken directly to the hospital for treatment.
Police aren't offering up anymore information because of the family's threat of a lawsuit.
"I just want some justice. I even pray for the police officers because they need help," said Sargeant.
While Heckler doesn't believe there was any wrongdoing from police, he says his office is now investigating the incident after a request from the Tullytown Police Chief.
Meanwhile, the boy's family hired Center City attorney Fortunato Perri Jr. who plans to file a complaint. Perri Jr. says he spoke briefly with the boy.
"We intend to develop the facts and circumstances a bit further," Perri said. "But just simply with the nature of the injuries that occurred in this case, I think it's clear that the police used excessive force. That's what we're investigating at this point."
Florida police accused of racial profiling after stopping man 258 times, charging him with trespassing at work
In the last four years Earl Sampson, 28, has been questioned by police 258 times, searched more than 100 times, jailed 56 times, and arrested for trespassing 62 times. The majority of these citations occurred at his place of work, a Miami Gardens convenience store where the owner says police are racially profiling.
Earl Sampson, 28, has been stopped by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years, searched more than 100 times, and jailed 56 times at the store where he works for no reason.
A Florida police department is facing racial profiling charges after stopping a man 258 times and repeatedly charging him with trespassing at the convenience store where he works.
At least once a week for the last four years, Earl Sampson, 28, has been stopped by Miami Gardens police — and searched more than 100 times, jailed 56 times and arrested for trespassing 62 times, records show.
The only conviction he's had, according to his lengthy records, is for marijuana possession.
"They created this record," Sampson's boss and the owner of 207 Quickstop, Alex Saleh, told the Daily News Friday. "He's a good guy, a humble guy, a quiet guy. He's not a convicted felon."
COURTESY ALEX SALEH/CBS MIAMI
Store surveillance video since set up by the owner of the Miami Gardens convenience store shows Sampson being stopped by police after simply exiting the store.
Saleh plans to present a civil rights suit against the city's police department and mayor next week after he installed security cameras to monitor the police's activity in and outside his store.
The resulting footage since obtained by the Miami Herald is described by Saleh as beyond legal but disturbing as well.
During one of Sampson's arrests — Sampson being just one of Saleh's alleged employees and customers subjected to police harassment — he's seen refilling a cooler inside the store when an officer walks up beside him.
ARRESTFILES.ORG
The only conviction Sampson has had, according to his lengthy records, is for marijuana possession. His boss describes him as 'a good guy, a humble guy, a quiet guy. He's not a convicted felon.'
"They ask him, 'What are you doing here?'" recalled Saleh. "He said, 'I work here.' The clerk said he works here. I said, 'I'm the owner, let him go. I work here.' The officer said, 'Yeah right.'
"So he has more power than me!"
According to Saleh, it doesn't stop there.
In addition to video appearing to show Sampson being grabbed by an officer while taking out the trash and at another time searched against a wall, Saleh accuses them of searching throughout his store without a warrant.
COURTESY ALEX SALEH/CBS MIAMI
Store owner Alex Saleh set up cameras after believing that police were unlawfully harassing his employees and customers. On the footage captured, he says police are seen illegally searching his store.
"One officer asked me, 'Can I use the restroom?'" he said of one incident allegedly caught on camera. "He opened the restroom door ... he decided to go walk in coolers to commit a search."
After seeing the footage Saleh said he contacted the police and was told that there was no search warrant issued for his business's location.
The police allegedly told him, "'Oh, we'll open an investigation.' It's been 15 months!"
COURTESY ALEX SALEH/CBS MIAMI
In one instance Sampson is seen restocking a cooler inside the store when a police accuses him of trespassing. The store owner claims the officer was told that Sampson works there but didn't care.
Another video appears to show an officer snooping behind the cash register area. The unidentified officer is seen taking one knee to flip through some papers.
Saleh says the police aren't just a problem at his store, but to the entire community as well.
"Not only to the (other) stores but the people in the community have been having a problem with the police," he said.
He blames it on there being no relationship between the police and community amid a city drenched in high crime.
CBS MIAMI
Saleh, pictured, plans to present a civil rights suit against the city's police department and mayor next week.
He also blames it on a "zero-tolerance" program enacted by the police department. The program allows officers to arrest anyone for trespassing if seen on a property that is closed and the owner is not there, said Saleh.
The business owner signed up for it, but now calls that a regret.
"It is illegal. They created a policy that's illegal," he said.
He claims that most of the trespassing arrests made at his store since are when his store is open and when he's there.
"They're just stopping anybody who walks in the city or who comes into my store," argued Saleh. "You can't violate people's rights just by standing in front of a business. You have no right to pull me against the wall and search me and question me for no reason."
Messages left with the Miami Gardens Police Department, including Chief Matthew Boyd and Deputy Chief of Police Paul Miller, were not immediately returned to the Daily News.
In a statement released to the Miami Herald, Boyd said "the department is committed to serving and protecting the citizens and businesses in the city."
In 1981, after a Dallas woman was reportedly raped in her house, she picked 20-year-old Charles Chatman, who lived down the street from her, out of a lineup.
Soon thereafter, Chatman was charged and convicted of rape and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He maintained he was an innocent man and said the victim misidentified him as the culprit. He went to the parole board three times but according to sources, was denied every time because he refused to admit guilt to the crime.
However, after years of struggling to get a DNA test, the court finally allowed him to do it in 2007. In 2008, the DNA exculpated him in the rape. Chatman was officially exonerated on February 26, 2008, after spending 27-years in prison.
As of 2012, Chatman had received $2,417,845 in state compensation.
Kash Delano Register
Kash Delano Register was only 19 years old when he was arrested and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for killing 78-year-old Jack Sasson in April of 1979, but he has always maintained his innocence.
During his trial that same year, key witness Brenda Anderson testified that Register, whom she had gone to high school with, shot her elderly neighbor to death. Thirty-four years later, Anderson’s sister Sharon took the stand and said the account, which helped send the young man to prison, was a lie.
Earlier this month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sided with Sharon Anderson and threw out the conviction of Register, who maintained his innocence during more than three decades as inmate No. C11693, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Register took his first steps of freedom on Friday November 8, 2013. The 53-year-old exonerated inmate was transported from a Northern California jail to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, where he left a free man, CBS Los Angeles reported.
“It was just an emotional feeling that just came out of nowhere,” Register said. “Finally, after 34 years.”
Kash Register has not yet announced whether he’ll seek compensation for his false conviction and imprisonment, although it is likely.
source: atlantablackstar.com
James Bain
In 1974, at the young age of 18, James Bain was arrested and later convicted of breaking and entering, kidnapping, and raping a nine-year-old boy. He was sentenced to life in prison.
The victim told police that his assailant appeared to have been 17 or 18 years old, had a mustache and bushy sideburns and his name was “Jim” or “Jimmy.” The victim’s uncle, who was an assistant principle, thought the description sounded a lot like a student at his school, “Jimmy Bain.” The boy picked Bain out of a photo lineup that included one other man with bushy sideburns. There were lingering questions about whether detectives steered him.
A jury convicted Bain after rejecting his story that he was home watching TV with his twin sister when the crime was committed, an alibi she repeated at a news conference right before his release.
After spending 35 years in prison, the court agreed to do DNA testing, which proved that Bain couldn’t have committed the rape. The state vacated his sentenced and at 54 years old, he found himself a free man.
Bain spent more time in prison for a crime he did not commit than any other American exonerated through DNA evidence. Until his conviction, he’d never had more than a few parking tickets.
The state of Florida awarded Bain a paltry $50,000 for each year he was incarcerated, which totaled $1.75 million.
source: businessinsider.com
Alan Newton
Alan Newton was between 26 and 27 years old when he was convicted in 1985 of rape, robbery and assault in the Bronx, New York, largely on the basis of testimony from the victim and an eyewitnesses. Newton maintained that he was innocent and said that he had been mistakenly identified. He was eventually sentenced to up to 40 years in prison and spent the next 22 years behind bars away from his daughter and fiance.
At about 4:00 AM on June 23, 1984, the 25-year-old victim stopped at a convenience store in the Bronx, New York. As the victim was leaving the store, she was grabbed from behind by another customer, who put a box cutter to her throat. The assailant raped her in a park and in an abandoned building, then cut her face leaving her blind in one eye. While still recovering in the hospital, she identified Newton out of almost 200 photos.
Newton had asked for a DNA test in 1994, but his request was denied because evidence had been presumed to be lost. After another 11 years of searching, the rape kit was found and post conviction DNA testing then proved that Newton was not the perpetrator of this crime. Newton was released in 2006.
A jury awarded him $18.5 million in compensation, but Judge Shira Scheindlin took it away arguing that Newton didn’t deserve the money because the city had not intentionally violated his civil rights.
source: innocenceproject.org
10 Black Men Recently Freed After Decades of False Imprisonment
In 2010, Anthony Graves was released after spending 18 years in prison away from his family. Graves was 26-years old when he was convicted in 1994 of assisting Robert Carter in the murder of six members of a Texas family in 1992. There was no physical evidence linking Graves to the crime, and his conviction relied primarily on Carter’s testimony.
Two weeks before Carter was scheduled to be executed in 2000, he provided a statement saying he lied about Graves’ involvement in the crime. He repeated that statement minutes before his execution.
In light of Carter’s new statement, in 2006 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned Graves’ conviction and ordered a new trial after finding that prosecutors elicited false statements and withheld testimony that could have influenced the jurors.
The Harris County assistant district attorney office still wanted to retry Graves but soon realized that the only evidence they had was Carter’s statement and making a new case against Graves would be impossible:
“After months of investigation and talking to every witness who’s ever been involved in this case, and people who’ve never been talked to before, after looking under every rock we could find, we found not one piece of credible evidence that links Anthony Graves to the commission of this capital murder. This is not a case where the evidence went south with time or witnesses passed away or we just couldn’t make the case anymore. He is an innocent man,” a statement from the D.A. office read.
Anthony Graves was paid $1.45 million in compensation.
source: deathpenaltyinfo.org
Clarence Harrison
Clarence Harrison was 28 years old when he was picked up by police in Decatur, GA as a suspect in a kidnapping, rape, and robbery. No hard evidence connected him to the case, but he lived close to where the victim was abducted, and police had received a tip indicating his involvement in the crime.
The victim’s eyewitness identification sealed Clarence’s fate and on March 18, 1987, he was convicted and sentenced to life plus twenty years in prison.
Harrison was told in the early 1990s that all the evidence had been destroyed and that the lab was unable to perform DNA analysis on the slides, but Harrison continued to pursue the test. Eventually they found the evidence and in February 2003, new DNA samples were taken from Harrison, and they were sent to a forensic lab in California, along with the slide from the rape kit. The lab returned the results in late August 2004 with the conclusion that the DNA evidence obtained from Harrison could not possibly belong to the same man whose DNA was in the rape kit.
On August 31, 2004, Clarence Harrison was released from prison after serving 18 years. At the age of 46, he had virtually disappeared from the lives of his two young daughters, who were 7 and 9 when he was incarcerated. He also could not attend the funeral of his mother, who never saw her son exonerated.
The Georgia General Assembly compensated Harrison with $1 million sum payable as an annuity over twenty years.
source: lifesentencealbum.com
Robert Clark
Robert Clark was 21 years old when he was convicted for rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery in Atlanta in 1981. He was sentenced to life in prison. At trial, Clark maintained that he wasmisidentified. With no previous criminal record, the former roofer was the only suspect to appear in both the photo array and the live line-up.
A defense witness testified that she saw another man, Tony Arnold, driving a car matching the victim’s Maroon Cutlass a few days after the rape. Arnold, who was in jail on an unrelated burglary charge, was brought to court and identified by the witness. Nevertheless, Clark was convictedalthough Arnold more closely resembled the victim’s description of the perpetrator.
Clark maintained his innocence and tried to obtain post-conviction DNA testing in the late 1990s but his request was denied. In July 2005, he finally got his wish and DNA testing proved that Robert could not be the perpetrator; the DNA proved Arnold, who was already in prison serving time for sodomy and cruelty to children, was the real perpetrator.
Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project said, “The lead detective was so focused on him, that all other suspects, other incidents, or any discordant data failed to register. Tunnel vision not only cost Robert a quarter century of freedom, it enabled a serial rapist to assault at least three more victims.”
Clark, who was 45 when he left prison, was ecstatic to see his siblings, children and five grandchildren.
For his false imprisonment, Georgia compensated Robert Clark with $1.2 million.
source: nytimes.com
Dixmoor Five
The “Dixmoor Five” are five Chicago suburban kids who were wrongfully convicted of murder and rape while they were teenagers. The youngest being 14. Robert Taylor, Jonathan Barr, James Harden, Shainne Sharp and Robert Veal served more than 70 years between them for the 1991 rape and murder of 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews.
The five say the Dixmoor Police and the State Police coerced false confessions, withheld evidence and invented witness testimony. Taylor, Barr, and Harden were sentenced to 80 years each in prison, where they spent the next 19 years of their lives before being released in November 2011.
Sharp and Veal reportedly were intimidated by the police and lied on the other three defendants to get a lesser charge for a crime they didn’t commit. The two did 10 years in prison and were released prior.
Taylor, Barr, and Harden maintained their innocence and DNA evidence eventually exonerated them and identified the true killer, a convicted sex offender with no connection to them.
“We went through a lot,” an emotional Robert Taylor said. “This one incident destroyed so many lives.”
Harden says he has no family because his parents died while he was in prison. They never saw him exonerated.
The “Dixmoor Five” filed a federal lawsuit in 2012 against Dixmoor Police and Illinois State Police for unspecified damages.
source: suntimes.com
Thomas McGowan
In 1985, Thomas McGowan, from Dallas Texas, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at the age of 24 for burglary and aggravated sexual assault.
Around noon on May 7, 1985, a woman returned to her Richardson, Texas, home to find her television on the floor and pry marks on the door. Seconds later, as she told police, she was assaulted by an African-American man who beat and threatened her with a knife before raping her.
McGowan served 23 years in a Texas prison for a rape conviction that rested in part on an eyewitness identification in a faulty lineup. His photo was in the system only because of a minor traffic violation, but the victim identified him in a photo array after being coached by an officer.
The victim said she “thought” he was the perpetrator, but the police officer administering the lineup told her: “You have to be sure, yes or no.” After the officer’s instructions, the victim said McGowan was “definitely” the man who attacked her.
DNA test results showed that the sperm cells collected from the victim’s body during her hospital examination could not have come from Thomas McGowan. He was released from prison on April 16, 2008.
Thomas McGowan’s false imprisonment culminated in a $1.8 million compensation package from the state of Texas.
source: law.umich.edu
Andre Davis
In 1983, at the age of 19, Andre Davis from Chicago, was sentenced to 80 years for the murder and rape of a 3-year-old girl, a crime he swore he didn’t commit.
The murder occurred in the early evening of Aug. 8, 1980, in Rantoul, about 20 miles north of Champaign where Davis had been staying with his father for the summer. The young girl went outside to play before disappearing within minutes – prompting her mother and father to conduct a frantic search.
The child’s body was discovered next door where Lutellis “Sonny” Tucker and his brother, Maurice Tucker, lived, in Maurice Tucker’s bedroom. Davis had visited the house earlier in the day.
Davis was arrested after a friend of the Tuckers, Donald Douroux, told police that Davis had told him he had killed “a white woman” at the residence. Douroux said he went to the Tucker residence to check, bumped into the victim’s parents, searched the Tucker’s house with them, and discovered the victim’s body after the parents went back outside. He told authorities Davis committed the crime and led the authorities to his own home where Davis was visiting.
After two trials, where Douroux and the Tuckers testified against him, Davis was subsequently convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to 80 years in prison.
At age 50, DNA evidence concluded that Davis was innocent and helped overturn his conviction. InMarch 2012, an appellate judge ordered a new trial for Davis. Champaign County prosecutors, weighing the new evidence against their 32-year-old case file, dismissed the charges on Friday, July 6, 2012. A judge ordered Davis released immediately.
“There was no possibility in their mind that I didn’t do it,” Davis said upon being released.
“While I am happy to be free with my innocence established by the courts, I feel that those who are responsible for robbing me of the best years of my life should be held legally responsible for doing me so terribly wrong,” said Davis.
Andre Davis filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit at the U.S. District Court. The lawsuit is still pending. The DNA samples matched Maurice Tucker’s genetic profile, but prosecutors claimed the DNA evidence alone was not enough to charge him.
The trial of Randy Harrison, a Oklahoma police captain accused of fatally shooting unarmed Black teenager Dane Scott Jr., took an explosive turn yesterday when Scott’s friend testified that the 18-year-old raised his hands and appeared to try to surrender before he was shot.
The testimony of John Lockett, 17, added another controversial element to this closely watched trial.
The case became a national story when Del City police Capt. Harrison, 48, killed Scott last March 14, 2012, because it was in the midst of the furor over George Zimmerman’s shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and after the arrests of two white men accused of fatally shooting three Black people in Tulsa during a racially motivated shooting spree.
A 23-year veteran of the police department in Del City, located southeast of Oklahoma City, Harrison pleaded not guilty and faces a minimum of four years and a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
The prosecutors said Harrison seemed obsessed with Scott, whom he had previously arrested on drug violations. A police department affidavit spells out that Scott posed no threat of death or great bodily harm to Harrison when the captain shot him in the back.
Harrison’s defense claims Harrison’s use of deadly force was justified because of Scott’s actions before the shooting.
During his testimony, Lockett said Scott was running away from Harrison when the officer opened fire.
“He had his hands up like this,” Lockett said, demonstrating by holding his hands up over his head. “He put his hands up like he surrendered.”
Harrison fired a total of four bullets, with one of them going through both of Scott’s lungs and piercing his aorta.
However, other witnesses contradicted the teen by saying they don’t recall seeing Scott attempting to give himself up.
“All he was doing was trying to get away,” said Kenneth Hodge, who saw the fatal shooting from a nearby business.
The incident occurred when Harrison tried to pull over a car Scott was driving. The teen led Harrison on a high-speed chase during which Scott tried to hide marijuana and a gun he had, according to Lockett, who was in the car with him. Scott eventually crashed the car into a tractor-trailer and began scuffling on the ground with Harrison after the collision.
During the scuffle, according to authorities, Harrison took a handgun from Scott, so the teen was not armed when he was shot.
Eric Thomason, 48, of Oklahoma City, also saw the encounter and testified that Harrison appeared to be fighting for his life as he struggled to disarm Scott. But Thomason admitted that Scott wasn’t a threat to Harrison or another officer nearby when the shooting happened.
“I never felt him as a threat to me,” Thomason said.
Thomason was in a pickup truck that pulled up to an intersection where the struggle was taking place. During the fight, he said he thought Scott was trying to shoot the officer.
“I was looking down the barrel of the gun they were fighting over,” he testified.
Thomason said after Harrison knocked the gun from Scott’s hand, Scott started running away from the officer and toward the pickup. Thomason got out of his truck and tried to grab Scott but missed him. When he tried to climb over a fence, Harrison shot him and he fell to the ground, Thomason said.
“The gun was being pointed in my direction,” Thomason testified. “I felt like I was in the line of fire.”
Another witness, Maj. Steve Robinson of the Del City Police Department, said he fired his stun gun as Scott approached him. There was nothing in Scott’s hands, he said.
“My intent was to capture him,” Robinson said.
Asked by District Attorney David Prater if it was professional for an officer to fire at a suspect who was so close to another officer, Robinson said, “It wouldn’t be a good idea. It’s not safe.”
About Nick Chiles
Nick Chiles is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. He has written or co-written 11 books and won over a dozen major journalism awards during a journalism career that brought him to the Dallas Morning News, the Star-Ledger of New Jersey and New York Newsday, in addition to serving as Editor-in-Chief of Odyssey Couleur travel magazine.
Something that's NEVER discussed is the INSANITY of the WHITE man!! He came here slaughtering, when I was born, he was slaughtering and as long as I have lived, he's still slaughtering. You know, and I know, if the African in America was as violent towards him and he has been to us, there'd be no African in America in existence. There definitely is something WRONG with these men and some of it has rubbed off to ours. America is no joke!!!!!
Police say a postal worker has been shot to death while delivering mail about 10 miles from the nation’s capital.
Police said they were called to a street Saturday evening in Landover and found 26-year-old Tyson Jerome Barnette dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Police are trying to identify suspects and a motive.
U.S. Postal Service spokesman Frank Schissler says it’s rare for a postal worker to be killed while delivering mail, but it has happened. A postal worker was killed north of Houston in May and in 2010, a deliveryman in Miami was shot to death.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the shooting.
Very sad, our condolences to this young man’s family. Fear of Black skin is real!
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Police say a postal worker has been shot to death while delivering mail about 10 miles from the nation’s capital.
Police said they were called to a street Saturday evening in Landover and found 26-year-old Tyson Jerome Barnette dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Police are trying to identify suspects and a motive.
U.S. Postal Service spokesman Frank Schissler says it’s rare for a postal worker to be killed while delivering mail, but it has happened. A postal worker was killed north of Houston in May and in 2010, a deliveryman in Miami was shot to death.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the shooting.
ARMAGEDDON faces every single African in the whole wide world, as soon as he is BORN!!!!!! Enslavement, incarceration, shoot-ups, shoot-downs, beaten to pulps, ridiculed, hatred everywhere. This SHIT has to stop. African women (yes, I said WOMEN) are crying, dying, sighing over their babies, I don't care how old they are. They're our BABIES!!!!!!!
ARMAGEDDON faces every single African in the whole wide world, as soon as he is BORN!!!!!! Enslavement, incarceration, shoot-ups, shoot-downs, beaten to pulps, ridiculed, hatred everywhere. This SHIT has to stop. African women (yes, I said WOMEN) are crying, dying, sighing over their babies, I don't care how old they are. They're our BABIES!!!!!!!
You're absolutely right! It is astounding that African Americans don't seem to know [or care] that WE are living the "Zombie Apocalypse" RIGHT NOW in this country! Between the blatant racial discrimination and racial harassment, police harassment and brutalization and murder, and the racist murders lynchings of Black people occurring everyday across this country [like the ones listed above], happening today even more frequently than what occurred during the jim crow era in this country, we are the zombies' prey.
Add on top of that, all of the gang violence,gang murders in Black on Black crime, the deliberate saturation of Black communities with drugs and guns, and the Prison Industrial Complex neo-Slave system they have created in this country as a means for employment and investment for non-Black people in America, and what you have is African America/African Americans surrounded, encircled by a barrier of hatred, evil, sadism and racism; the exact same scenario of the slave on the cotton plantation.
As long as it is not safe to be a Black person in America, we are still slaves.
Almost unbelievably, another story is breaking on a national level about an African American in the state of Florida who is the victim of the racist “Stand Your Ground” laws. Just like Marissa Alexander, Michael Giles stood his ground against an unprovoked attacker, and today this military veteran is behind bars, sentenced to 25 years in prison!
Michael Giles’ mother writes the following, in his petition, which you are all encouraged to sign…
Three years ago my son Michael was attacked outside of a club in Tallahassee, FL. His attacker admitted in open court that he attacked Michael with no provocation.
Michael’s attacker admitted he was angry that someone had interrupted his dance, and wanted to hurt the next person he saw. That next person standing to the side, not partaking in the violence, was Michael. His attacker was not fighting alone, state witnesses testified that there were between 30-40 people involved in the brawl. The state’s own witnesses also testified that the aggressor instigated several other fights that night, and was acting erratically and violently. His attacker’s own friend testified she was worried the aggressor would kill or seriously injure someone. In comparison, state witnesses testified that Michael, was calmly standing to the side, and did nothing to provoke the attack.
My husband and I are proud military veterans, with a combined 40 years of service, and we were proud when our son also chose to serve his country. Michael completed a tour in Iraq and Kuwait and was looking forward to furthering his career in the military, but now all of that has changed. We believe that we have raised a good man. He had no prior criminal offenses, no history of violence, and was a outstanding father and Airman. So we do not understand how the state of Florida could sentence him to a mandatory 25 years for defending himself.
Michael has been trained to analyze threats and believed at that moment he needed to defend himself. He realized that his attacker and his attacker’s friends had the upper-hand in numbers and he could have been seriously injured or killed. In his desperate attempt to gain the opportunity to get to his feet and flee, he fired his legally registered weapon and accidentally struck, but did not seriously injure, his attacker in the leg. Despite overwhelming evidence from state witnesses that Michael was attacked first without provocation, and the fact that he did not continue firing, and removed himself from the immediate area as soon as he could. Michael was not offered a plea from the state. He was thus charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing bodily harm & sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. His Judge stated “Frankly, I think the 25-year mandatory is overly harsh based on the facts of this case, but that’s what the law requires I do and I intend to follow the law.” The officer who prepared Michael’s sentencing recommendation, recommended Michael be given probation due to her investigation. She felt that Michael would be an ideal candidate for probation, thus saving tax payers money. The state rejected her professional recommendation and pushed for the 25 years.
Michael is a good man, he is honest, he is hard working and through all of this he is our rock and confidence we need to keep fighting. He is afraid that he will miss his children grow up.
Our family just does not understand how a man who proudly fought for his country, and spent 6 years proudly serving as a U.S Airman, could lose the right to live his life for defending himself. The fact is, Michael was attacked, and he was afraid the group fighting would kill him. He fired his legally registered weapon to gain the opportunity to run, from somewhere he had the legal right to be. His attacker not only attacked him but he admitted to attacking others that night.
This sentence has destroyed our family and we hope you will sign this petition to ask Governor Rick Scott and the Clemency Board to commute the sentence of Michael Giles.
Get the word out! Sign the petition, and let Governor Rick Scott of Florida know that Michael Giles MUST be set free.
Michael was an upstanding Airman, and dedicated father, who believed he was in the right to defend himself.
Governor Scott, are you suggesting that everyone but African Americans have the right to “Stand Their Ground” in the state of Florida? If so, we request that you just come out and say it. Sign it into law so that African Americans know where we stand.
Furthermore, we DEMAND that the Florida Clemency Board to waive the stipulation of Giles serving one-half of a minimum mandatory sentence and be immediately consider before the Clemency Board.
Some folks don't mind being whooped and hollered at by drill "superiors" and such. They join the military for jobs and promised educational expansion when they leave. I don't think ANYONE thinks about death, dismemberment, brutality, terrorism, friends getting their heads blown off in front of you, who you send to their graves. Nothing like that!!
We fight for "America" because it's our home of birth. What we're never going to achieve is ACCEPTANCE, PEACE, LOVE nor our SOULS!!!!!!
Some folks don't mind being whooped and hollered at by drill "superiors" and such. They join the military for jobs and promised educational expansion when they leave. I don't think ANYONE thinks about death, dismemberment, brutality, terrorism, friends getting their heads blown off in front of you, who you send to their graves. Nothing like that!!
We fight for "America" because it's our home of birth. What we're never going to achieve is ACCEPTANCE, PEACE, LOVE nor our SOULS!!!!!!
Because this IS OUR country and we don't plan on allowing America's racists to make us feel otherwise or to run us out of our country.
Because African Americans have more standing to claim America as OUR country than ANY Racist in this country since WE DID NOT invade this country, we did not "colonize" this country, we did not try to commit genocide against the Native Americans, we did not enact laws that made Native Americans second-class citizens in their own land, we did not exploit for profit every natural resource that rightfully belongs to Native Americans, while blocking their access to it or by enacting laws, and social and economic conditions that impeded their ability to utilize the natural resources of their own land for the benefit of THEIR people.
And, because African Americans ACTUALLY DO believe in the Constitution, Equal Rights and Equality and Justice for ALL,[what America claims to be, what America is supposed to be].
And, because it was the blood, sweat and tears of OUR ancestors' enslavement that generated an economy for this country in the first place, otherwise, there would BE no America.
And, because America owes Black people the opportunity to make up for centuries of enslavement, racism and jim crow, and we are not going any damn where, unless it is of our own accord, until the damn debt is PAID-IN- FULL!
Last month, 25-year-old Ashley Depew, accused a random Black “thug” of assaulting her in a “Knockout Game” attack, but her entire story has been exposed as a lie, reports St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Depew was really hit by her boyfriend, Justin Simms, 25, and they fabricated the entire story to avoid telling their families.
As originally reported by KMOV St. Louis, Depew claimed that she was randomly sucker punched while waiting for a friend outside of a local bar.
“I dropped immediately to the ground and screaming and crying and everybody just scattered,” she said at the time to News 4’s Matt Sczesny.
Depew’s family thought the attack sounded like the “Knockout Game” that seemed to be going around—before it was determined to be a racist, sensationalized story—and they insisted on going to the police. Police Chief Sam Dotson, however, said their story was always inconsistent:
“We had to spend a significant amount of resources unraveling the lies they told,” Dotson told the Dispatch. “That’s resources that could have been spent on other crimes, and it damaged the perception of the city. I hope these two individuals get help in their relationship.”
Depew and Simms have both been charged with falsifying a police report.
Blaming a phantom Black criminal for the crimes of White America is nothing new.
Simms claims that he “accidentally” hit Depew when she tried to touch his hand during an argument. He was allegedly just trying to move his hand, but Depew suffered two facial fractures and required reconstructive surgery.
“I don’t want this to detract from the fact that [Depew's] still a victim,” said her attorney Ethan Corlija. “She sustained pretty serious injuries. No matter how the circuit attorney chooses to view it, it still boils down to her being a victim and we can’t lose sight of that fact.”
Last month, 25-year-old Ashley Depew, accused a random Black “thug” of assaulting her in a “Knockout Game” attack, but her entire story has been exposed as a lie, reports St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Depew was really hit by her boyfriend, Justin Simms, 25, and they fabricated the entire story to avoid telling their families.
As originally reported by KMOV St. Louis, Depew claimed that she was randomly sucker punched while waiting for a friend outside of a local bar.
“I dropped immediately to the ground and screaming and crying and everybody just scattered,” she said at the time to News 4’s Matt Sczesny.
Depew’s family thought the attack sounded like the “Knockout Game” that seemed to be going around—before it was determined to be a racist, sensationalized story—and they insisted on going to the police. Police Chief Sam Dotson, however, said their story was always inconsistent:
“We had to spend a significant amount of resources unraveling the lies they told,” Dotson told the Dispatch. “That’s resources that could have been spent on other crimes, and it damaged the perception of the city. I hope these two individuals get help in their relationship.”
Depew and Simms have both been charged with falsifying a police report.
Blaming a phantom Black criminal for the crimes of White America is nothing new.
Simms claims that he “accidentally” hit Depew when she tried to touch his hand during an argument. He was allegedly just trying to move his hand, but Depew suffered two facial fractures and required reconstructive surgery.
“I don’t want this to detract from the fact that [Depew's] still a victim,” said her attorney Ethan Corlija. “She sustained pretty serious injuries. No matter how the circuit attorney chooses to view it, it still boils down to her being a victim and we can’t lose sight of that fact.”
I think that the knockout game is a total fabrication anyway... William Bratton the notorious former police chief is coming back to NY. And as it has been proven in the past, NY media is good for making crap up especially when it comes to black people.
Police in Colorado say that an Aurora man will not be charged after he admitted pulling his gun on a woman with four children — including a disabled child — because she was taking too long to park her car.
Shakia Bush told KMGH-TV that she was waiting for a handicap parking space at a local Walmart recently and a man behind her started honking his horn.
When she got out to tell him to go around because she was waiting for the handicap space, she said that he started yelling obscenities and pulled out a gun.
“He showed it to me in the air, then held it to his chest and said, ‘B****, I have a gun. I will shoot your a**,’” she recalled. “My 10-year old son was saying ‘Mommy, he’s going to shoot you. I don’t want him to shoot you.’”
Bush said that she screamed that the man was “pulling a gun on a woman” before writing down his license plate number and calling 911.
“That’s when he got back into his car and took off,” she said.
Police identified the suspect as Justin West. But in an interview, he insisted that he had pulled the gun because he thought “people were going to jump out and attack him.”
According to his version of events, he told Bush, “I have a gun and will defend myself.”
“What was he defending himself from?” Bush wondered. “A mom and four kids? He was angry over a traffic incident. He hopped out of his car first and started yelling and screaming at me.”
“I think he felt a woman was talking back to him, so he needs to prove a point,” she said
Aurora police explained to KMGH-TV that West could not be charged because no gun could clearly be seen in the Walmart surveillance video.
“I really feel that people need to be held accountable for their actions,” Bush lamented. “My children were scared that something was going to happen to them.”
Former Denver prosecutor Karen Steinhauser told KMGH-TV that West could be charged for felony menacing for just holding a gun up to his chest and issuing threats.
“It’s menacing if your intent was to put someone in fear of their life,” she pointed out. “The question investigators have to ask is, ‘Was he in fear of imminent harm?’”
Watch this video from KMGH-TV, broadcast Dec. 11, 2013.
David Edwards
David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.
FBI to seize school hard drives in Kendrick Johnson probe, source says
From Victor Blackwell, CNN
updated 7:13 PM EST, Thu December 19, 2013
Missing video in teen gym-mat death?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Source: U.S. attorney issued grand jury subpoena for school hard drives
Kendrick Johnson's body was found in a rolled-up gym mat in January
Previously released video was missing footage from high school gym
Forensic video analyst: Hard drives may have been overwritten by now
(CNN) -- The FBI was expected Thursday to seize the original hard drives from the surveillance system at Lowndes High School, where 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat earlier this year, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation surrounding the hard drives.
U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Michael Moore issued a grand jury subpoena to seize the hard drives, the source said.
Kendrick Johnson's family waited months for hundreds of hours of surveillance video, hoping it would yield answers about their son's January death, but they were disappointed to learn that the four cameras inside the Valdosta, Georgia, gymnasium showed only a few collective seconds of Johnson, jogging. The camera fixed on the gym mats was blurry.
The Johnsons' attorneys were not shy in stating their suspicion that someone could have tampered with the videos.
Attorney Chevene King has questioned why time codes weren't shown in the videos.
"We don't have any time code with which to synchronize the events that are shown in the video. ... Either the cameras did this on their own or a human being interacted to make these cameras do these things," King said.
Lowndes County Schools insisted last month that the video it provided to the family and CNN is "a raw feed with no edits," and the county sheriff's office, which asserts Johnson accidentally died while reaching for a shoe in one of the mats, says it didn't edit any files, according to their lawyers.
<cite class="expCaption">Kendrick Johnson video analysis: part 1</cite>
<cite class="expCaption">Feds now involved in wrestling mat death</cite>
<cite class="expCaption">Protesters want answers in teen's death</cite>
<cite class="expCaption">CNN obtains new docs on Kendrick Johnson</cite>
CNN, which filed suit to secure access to the video, hired forensic video analyst Grant Fredericks to analyze more than 290 hours of material from all 35 cameras inside and outside of the gym. Fredericks is a U.S. Justice Department consultant and contract instructor for the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
CNN also provided Fredericks and his company, the Spokane, Washington-based Forensic Video Solutions, with hundreds more hours of video from 31 cameras in other parts of Lowndes High School.
Fredericks quickly knocked down most of the Johnsons' concerns -- they're all easily explained, he said -- but his examination raised what could be another mystery: at least an hour of missing video from all four cameras inside the gym.
Fredericks told CNN he found that "highly suspicious,"especially considering how the material was acquired by police.
CNN has requested access to the original surveillance servers, which has not yet been granted. But Fredericks cautioned that the video could be gone, as newer surveillance would replace it if it wasn't recovered promptly from the school's digital video recorder.
The files given to him by CNN are not original, Fredericks has said. "They're not something investigators should rely on for the truth of the video."
The analyst added: "The investigator's responsibility is to acquire the entire digital video recording system and have their staff define what they want to obtain."
Authorities have said they didn't receive a copy of the videos until several days after Johnson's body was found, according to an unredacted report obtained by CNN after a legal process.
According to an incident report from the sheriff's office, a detective watched a portion of the video, then asked an information technology officer employed by the school board to produce a "copy of the surveillance video for the entire wing of the school with the old gym for the last 48 hours."
Five days later, the sheriff's report says, the IT officer delivered a hard drive to the detective, who verified it contained what he requested.
"Right now, what they've done, is they've left it up to the school district as to what it is they want to provide to the police, and I think that probably is a mistake," Fredericks said.
"You don't want somebody who might be party to the responsibility to make the decision as to what they provide the police."
Jacquelyn Johnson, Kendrick Johnson's mother, said of the case, "We're going to fight until it's all over, until we get the truth."
In April 2012, Shannon Zach Nyamodi had just graduated high school, was working as an electrician’s assistant, and was part of a musical band that played in local clubs around his quaint North Carolina town. He was slated to join the military in November of that year. But instead of going through with his projected plans, 18 year old Shannon found himself sitting in a jail cell for a crime his family and friends said that he did not commit.
On August 16, 2012, Shannon had just come from a gig with his band and had fallen asleep in his truck which was parked at his friend’s home. He was awakened by the sounds of gunshots and quickly looked around to see a white woman from the adjacent home running towards the house where he was located. Blood was pouring from her head. Shannon exited his truck and ran towards the woman, who told him that she had been shot and that her “daughter” was responsible. When Shannon looked towards the woman’s home, he saw a white male fleeing the scene.
Shannon called 911 and tried to console the lady while help arrived. All the while, the victim kept telling him over and over again that her 15 year old daughter had “set her up.”
The victim worked for a dentist’s office and was known to carry large amounts of cash on her. Those close to her knew that she kept the cash in her home. It’s alleged that her 15 year old daughter was seen on Facebook weeks earlier asking people on her page if anyone wanted to be paid to shoot her mother.
Shannon’s mother, Elizabeth Crudup told Your Black World that she thinks the wrong people read the young lady’s post.
Ms. Crudup explained that after the police arrived, the shooting victim also told them repeatedly that her 15 year old daughter was responsible for the shooting. The police report backs up this statement. Ms. Crudup also states that the police interviewed her son and took a statement from him at the scene of the disturbance. They thought their nightmare was over, but the police came back the next day and arrested Shannon.
Ms. Crudup stated, “At first we thought they were detaining him to ask more questions. I was in complete utter shock when I went to the police department and they told me they were going to charge him with the shooting of this lady.”
Shannon was booked on charges that he conspired with the victim’s 15 year old daughter to commit robbery and murder. Shannon had never met the young lady although they did go to the same high-school, which is the only high-school in their small town.
The Crudup family raised $30,000 and retained the services of an attorney who happened to be a former prosecutor. Ms. Crudup suspects that her attorney is working with the prosecution on this case because on many occasions, the attorney tried to force Shannon to take a plea deal instead of motioning the courts to reduce his hefty $500,000 bail.
The next week after the shooting occurred, the gun that was used in the shooting and the money that was stolen mysteriously turned up at the sheriff’s office. All the money that was taken was accounted for, and most importantly, Shannon’s DNA wasn’t found on the gun or money.
Also, countless eyewitnesses in the neighborhood, (which can also be found in the police report), state that a young white male was seen running from the victims home.
So why is Shannon Nyamodi still sitting in jail?
Ms. Crudup suspects that the Sherriff’s office is connected in some way to her son’s case and is trying to conceal the identity of the real perpetrators.
The very same day the crime happened a young white male who matched the description of the person running from the home, was seen in pictures on his Facebook page holding a large amount of cash. The caption of the picture read, “They should arrest me tonight but I guess they are not going to take me in.”
The young male had a cousin who was just released from jail a week before the crime, and the young man himself was expecting a child. They both are part of a well known gang in the area. They are also suspected to be relatives of someone in the Sheriff’s office.
Ms. Crudup has a small amount of support in the community. She stated, “people often would come up to me and tell me that they know my son did not do this. The DA even told me that my son had nothing to do with this and that he would be home for Christmas.”
But that is not the case. Shannon’s case has been completely removed from the Franklin County Courts computer system. And although the DA feels that Shannon is innocent, Ms. Crudup feels that the Assistant D.A. “wants to pen the crime on someone, anyone.”
Ms. Crudup is asking that anyone out there that can help her with this case, please get into contact with her immediately. She would like to bring her son home in time for the holidays.
“I think we all know what would have happened if he wasn’t there,” Octavius Johnson said of his childhood friend who secretly recorded four police officers brutalizing him. “It would have been swept under the rug,” Johnson concluded.
He is probably right, but because of the fast thinking and action of his friend, all four officers involved have been fired.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer told reporters at a press conference, “Many of the police actions that took place that day are in violation of our policies and do not represent how I want our officers to conduct themselves. The final resolution will be fair to the citizens of Omaha, the Omaha Police Department and the specific employees involved so that we can move forward and restore any public trust that may have eroded with this incident.”
But the Omaha police firing these officers has not satisfied the Johnson family, who with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed suit seeking damages for the anxiety and depression that have surfaced in the months since. A full eight officers have been named in the suit with another 24 who remain unnamed.
“This incident will live with our family for the rest of our lives,” Sharee Johnson – the mother of the two young men – said, “None of us can call 911 when we need help and believe that police would be there to help us. We live in a city where we feel we have no protection.”
The suit alleges that dozens of Omaha police officers turned a parking violation into a brutal arrest, unconstitutional raid on the family’s house, and confiscation of video that was taken of these illegal police actions. All of this stemmed from Octavius Johnson parking his truck on the wrong part of the street. A secondary video taken by Johnson’s childhood friend shows the incident from a second story vantage point. Police can clearly be seen grabbing an non-resisting Johnson by the neck, and throwing him to the ground, then punching him numerous times, as other officers rush in.
“He went around my neck, threw me to the ground, choked me out to the point where I couldn’t breathe or speak,” Johnson said of the illegal assault by police officers. “The officer told me to stop resisting, punched me in the face.” As if this were not enough, they implied that they would murder him right there in the street, saying “do you want to die today?”
Octavius’ brother Juaquez, was chased and then arrested for filming the arrest on a camera phone, even though he was on private property, and did not interfere with the illegal arrest.
It is a breath of fresh air to see the Omaha Police Department act quickly to fire these officers, but the Johnson family is right, were it not for that second video of the assault, no action would have been taken on their complains alone. They would have been ignored, shrugged off and ultimately they would have been prosecuted for the crimes alleged in the illegal arrest, crimes which they never committed.
I love how the police have to try to explain their actions because of a videotaped beating. We need to dust off out camcorders and whip out of cellphone video on every traffic stop. This is the only way we can get to justice...through embarrassment
WEST ALLIS (WITI) — A tragic incident is caught on video surveillance. Now FOX6 News has the video captured inside a West Allis food mart on the day customers restrained a teenager they say they saw shoplifting. 16-year-old Corey Stingley died after that incident.
The West Allis Police Department released the video on Tuesday, January 14th. It shows Stingley in a teal hoodie in the VJ’s Food Mart on December 14, 2012.
A police report points to the time when Stingley is seen putting six small bottles of vodka in his backpack. You see Stingley being confronted by the clerk as he tried to pay for another drink. Stingley is seen reaching for his debit card and then running. In the upper part of the screen — you see a struggle as three men stop Stingley.
While most of the struggle is out of camera range, police say Stingley punched one customer in the face. That customer said he briefly put Stingley in a choke hold. Stingley ends up going down.
The struggle continues on the lower left of the screen. One customer is seen putting his knee on Stingley’s back to restrain him. Police arrived minutes later. Stingley was not breathing and had no pulse. While police and paramedics were able to revive him, the 16-year-old later died.
On Friday, January 10th, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office ended a lengthy investigation. The result — no charges for the three customers involved. That isn’t sitting well with Stingley’s father and some community activists who are planning protests this week.
“He’s a kid. He’s not a 250-pound 35-year-old man. Doing the right thing is calling law enforcement. It’s not doing the right thing by putting yourself in the place of law enforcement. That’s exactly what these people did,” said community activist Michael Wilder.
District Attorney John Chisholm says he would not be able to legally prove who is responsible for Stingley’s death. He says there was absolutely no intent to kill the teen.
“Their goal was to intervene and hold him until police arrived. They were restraining him after what was initially a violent encounter. I can’t make charges based on popular sentiment. It’s got to be based on the facts. It’s got to be based on the law and what we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. If I apply any other standard, I’m not doing my job. I’m standing by that decision, and accept any criticism that comes along with that,” said Chisholm.
On Monday, Corey Stingley’s father said this was a crime against humanity. He says there will be a news conference Wednesday.
All three customers who restrained Stingley denied FOX6 News’ request for an interview.
A Southern California man never thought that a dropped cigarette would result in him being brutally assaulted and tortured by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy. Daniel Johnson, 26, a graduate of University of California, Berkeley with no criminal history, screamed “stop, please!” and “I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” over and over as the deputy held him down, repeatedly electrocuting his genitals with a taser in front of his family and neighbors.
Johnson explains that after several discharges of the high voltage taser, he could literally smell the flesh “cooking” off of his genitals. He later discovered that he had in fact sustained multiple burns to the genital region, as a result of this literal torture.
Now, Johnson has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Johnson was at his mother’s Altadena home, cooking dinner back in December 26, 2012. That’s when a man knocked on the door to inform Johnson that his father was being ticketed for putting out a cigarette on the ground Johnson’s father was a 58-year-old disabled man. He may or may not have intended to drop the cigarette, but Johnson explains that the man walks with a cane and often drops things because of severe, medically documented nerve damage in his hands.
Los Angeles “Deputy Abdulfattah,” is named in the complaint as the officer giving a $1,000 ticket and community service for littering. But Johnson tried to explain to the officer that there was a medical condition with his father, and the littering was likely accidental.
Abdulfattah told Johnson, “I can write you a ticket too if you want,” the deputy said.
“I asked if it would be possible for me to just pick it up,” Johnson said. “We don’t have $1,000 to pay that ticket,” he said, trying to plead with the deputy.
As Johnson began to walk away to inform his mother of what was happening, another deputy, named in the complaint as “Deputy Russell,” grabbed Johnson from behind slamming him against the patrol car and into a concrete post.
Johnson’s parents shouted: “leave him alone! He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Deputy Russell then put Johnson in a “full nelson hold” wrapping his arms under Johnson’s armpits with his hands behind Johnson’s head. That’s when deputy Abdulfattah began punching Johnson’s father in the face. Then Abdulfattah turned to the restrained Johnson, and used a Taser on his genitals over and over.
“He was right above me as he Tased me,” Johnson explained. “There’s no mistake that he was trying to Tase me in my genitalia.”
Johnson’s mother says that the deputy stared at her throughout the whole ordeal, like he was trying to show her that he was able to do anything he wanted to her son.
“He’s looking directly at me every time he pulls that trigger, and at one point my son says, ‘Mom, I’m OK,” Johnson’s mother, Rose Gonzales said. “So at that point, I realize this guy is doing this because I am reacting.”
After being tortured in front of his family by the officers, Johnson was arrested for battery on a police officer. Those charges were never filed.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department says that the officer in question is “the best deputy in the department.”
Help get the word out. Contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (800) 698-8255, a number assigned specifically for complaints about the Department’s deputies. Email 20webemail@lasd.org">webemail@lasd.org and demand that these deputies be fired and brought up on charges.
Sign the petition at the link below to fire the officers involved, and charge them criminally for this brazen act of torture.
It seems Africans born in America might have to see about installing some kind of MANDATORY Funeral Insurance in place as soon as mother gives birth. Seems the "white" man is hell bent on killing us all. This shit is SERIOUS and SCARY!!!
It's never been discussed among ourselves just WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY is this?? What's wrong with these Europeans?? They can't do anything without killing hoards of human beings. Black Men, wake the hell up, stop killing your brothers and pay attention!! This is no joke!!!!! The hatred you bestow upon your brothers will NEVER surpass the "white" mans' hatred against you. You will not win. Stay out of their clutches as best you can. Gee, that 14 year old's face is sadder than sad. I have eight boys in my family and I couldn't deal with anything like that happening to them. God help us all!!!!!
Three Oklahoma police officers were placed on administrative leave Saturday after a man whose ID they requested arrived dead and disfigured at a nearby hospital.
The Moore, Oklahoma officers detained Luis Rodriguez after he tried to chase after his wife following a fight she had with their daughter outside a movie theater. His wife, Nair, told local station News 9 that she’d slapped her daughter after a fight and that Luis was simply trying to keep her from driving away upset. That’s when officers asked her husband for ID.
According to Nair and their daughter, Lunahi, Luis tried to bypass several officers to prevent Nair from leaving the scene. He was then taken to the ground, they said. Then, they claim, the situation turned grave and five of them beat Luis to death.
“When they flipped him over you could see all the blood on his face, it was… he was disfigured, you couldn’t recognize him,” Lunahi told the station. ”My mom was taking a video and asking, ‘What are they doing this for? Why?’ And they didn’t give really an explanation.”
“I saw him,” Luis’ wife, Nair, told News 9. “His body when [they carried] it to the stretcher. I knew that he was dead.”
Nair told the station Luis was trying to defuse the fight, and that she’d given the same account to the police.
“I told them I hit her and he was just trying to reach me,” she said. “Why didn’t they arrest me?”
Police reportedly seized Nair’s phone, but another family member kept an audio recording.
According to NewsOk, the officers were two on-duty Moore police, one off-duty officer and two off-duty game wardens. “They jumped on him like he was some kind of killer or drug dealer and beat him up,” Lunahi told NewsOk. “He never fought the officers, they beat him on the head and that’s how he lost his breath.”
Rodriguez’s body was taken to the state medical examiner for an autopsy.
White Dallas Man Shoots 8-Year-Old Black Boy Playing Tag
Dallas police said that Donald Maiden Jr., who had just celebrated his 8th birthday on Sunday, was shot in the face on Tuesday while playing tag outside his apartment complex.
DALLAS POLICE SAID THAT DONALD MAIDEN JR. WAS SHOT IN THE FACE TUESDAY WHILE PLAYING TAG. (KTVT SCREENSHOT)
Donald Maiden Jr., who celebrated his 8th birthday on Sunday, is struggling to recover at a Texas hospital after a 46-year-old white man shot him in the face on Tuesday, as the child played a game of tag outside his apartment complex, according to the Raw Story. Police have not been able to determine a motive.
According to his grandmother, Maiden ran inside to get some toys and was shot as came back outside.
Witnesses told police that 46-year-old Brian Cloninger had been seen waiving a handgun at people prior to the shooting, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Police reports said that Cloninger was seen standing beside his pickup truck as the boy was bleeding, and a witness asked him if he shot the boy.
"Yes, I shot that kid," Cloninger reportedly said.
"When he ran in I just screamed," she said. "His mouth was just hanging off and it was just a big hole… I just threw him on the couch and laid him in my arms and put pressure on his mouth with the towel."
Locklin couldn't understand why anyone would shoot her child "out of the blue."
Maiden was listed in critical but stable condition on Thursday. Cloninger was arrested and charged with injury to a child, and was being held $2.2 million dollar bond, according to the report.
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About Nick Chiles
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