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Tag: police killings
"Convict All Four" sign at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Four Ex-Cops In Floyd Murder​

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air.

A three-count indictment unsealed Friday names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao. Chauvin was convicted last month on state charges of murder and manslaughter and is appealing. The other three are set for state trial on Aug. 23. It's not clear what will happen in this case, but generally the state charges play out before federal charges do.

The indictment sends a strong message about the Justice Department's priorities. Floyd's May 25 arrest and death, which a bystander captured on cellphone video, sparked mass protests nationwide that called for an end to racial inequalities and police mistreatment of Black people.

When President Joe Biden was elected, he promised he'd work to end disparities in the criminal justice system. The indictments were handed down about a week after federal prosecutors brought hate crimes charges in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and announced two sweeping probes into policing in two states.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said the federal charges against the officers show the Justice Department "does not excuse it nor allow police to act as though as what they do is acceptable behavior in the line of duty."

"What we couldn't get them to do in the case of Eric Garner, Michael Brown in Ferguson, and countless others, we are finally seeing them do today," Sharpton said.

Floyd, 46, died after Chauvin pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck, even as Floyd, who was handcuffed, repeatedly said he couldn't breathe. Kueng and Lane also helped restrain Floyd — state prosecutors have said Kueng knelt on Floyd's back and Lane held down Floyd's legs. State prosecutors say Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening during the 9 1/2-minute restraint.

Lane, Thao, and Kueng made initial court appearances Friday via videoconference in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, and remain free on bond. Chauvin is held in state custody as he awaits sentencing on the state charges and hasn't yet appeared in federal court.

While all four officers are charged broadly with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, the indictment breaks down the counts. A count against Chauvin alleges he violated Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.

Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure by not intervening to stop Chauvin as he knelt on Floyd's neck. It's not clear why Lane, who held down Floyd's legs, is not mentioned in that count, but evidence in the state's case shows that Lane had asked twice whether Floyd should be rolled on his side. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.

Chauvin was also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the use of force and neck restraint of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, argued during his murder trial that Chauvin acted reasonably and Floyd died because of underlying health issues and drug use. He has filed a request for a new trial.

Nelson had no comment on the federal charges. Kueng's attorney also had no comment. A message left for Thao's attorney wasn't immediately returned, and Lane's attorney was unable to talk when reached by The Associated Press, and messages left later were not returned.

Ben Crump and the team of attorneys for Floyd's family said the civil rights charges reinforce "the strength and wisdom" of the Constitution. "We are encouraged by these charges and eager to see continued justice in this historic case that will impact Black citizens and all Americans for generations to come," the attorneys said in a statement.

To bring federal charges in deaths involving police, prosecutors must believe an officer acted under the "color of law," or government authority, and willfully deprived someone of their constitutional rights. That's a high legal standard. An accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer's part isn't enough to support federal charges; prosecutors have to prove the officer knew what he was doing was wrong in that moment but did it anyway.

The indictment in Floyd's death says Chauvin kept his left knee on Floyd's neck as he was handcuffed and unresisting. Thao and Kueng allegedly were aware Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck, even after Floyd became unresponsive, and "willfully failed to intervene to stop Defendant Chauvin's use of unreasonable force." All four officers are charged with willfully depriving Floyd of liberty without due process, including the right to be free from "deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs."

The other indictment, against Chauvin only, alleges he deprived a 14-year-old boy of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held the teen by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boy's neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and unresisting.

According to a police report from that 2017 encounter, Chauvin wrote that the teen resisted arrest and after the teen, whom he described as 6-foot-2 and about 240 pounds, was handcuffed, Chauvin "used body weight to pin" him to the floor. The boy was bleeding from the ear and needed two stitches.

That encounter was one of several mentioned in state court filings that prosecutors said showed Chauvin had used neck or head and upper body restraints seven times before dating back to 2014, including four times state prosecutors said he went too far and held the restraints "beyond the point when such force was needed under the circumstances."

Bob Bennett, an attorney for the teenager, said the "familiar behavior" from Chauvin showed Floyd wasn't his first victim.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the state charges, said the federal government is responsible for protecting the civil rights of every American and "federal prosecution for the violation of George Floyd's civil rights is entirely appropriate."

Chauvin was convicted on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Experts say he will likely face no more than 30 years in prison when he is sentenced June 25. The other officers face charges alleging they aided and abetted second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Any federal sentence would be served at the same time as a state sentence.

At the White House on Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden didn't have a direct reaction to the indictments. She added that the George Floyd case was "a reminder of the need to put police reform in place through our legislative process."

10 Times Police Killed The People They Were Called To Save

10 Times Police Killed The People They Were Called To Save

In San Diego, California, a mentally ill, unarmed black man died late Tuesday night at the hands of the police. His name was Alfred Olango, 30. Before his tragic death, the victim’s sister had contacted the police department for assistance. She said he was “not acting like himself.” So why did Olango end up dead shortly after they arrived?

To the contrary of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s claim at the 2016 Republican National Convention, police don’t always “just come to save you.” Here are 10 times police killed the very people they were called to help:

. Alfred Olango

Protests continue in San Diego where Olango was killed by police, and an investigation is underway.

“I told you he is sick. And you guys shot him!” Olango’s sister told officers in a Facebook video recorded live at the scene. “I called police to help him, not to kill him.”

2. Tawon Boyd

On September 18, Boyd, “feeling disoriented,” called 911 for help. He died the following Wednesday as a result of the altercation with the police who “repeatedly punched” him soon after they arrived.

3. Melissa Boarts

Boarts’ mother, Terry, feared her manic depressive daughter would hurt herself. Now, she insists she will never call the police again. “Parents called 911 to help suicidal daughter—and ‘police ended up putting a bullet in her,'” The Washington Post reported April 6, three days after the incident.

4. Quintonio LeGrier

Antonio, Quintonio LeGrier’s father, hoped police could help with his teenage son’s emotional troubles. Like the Boarts, he never expected they would end his son’s life. Quintonio LeGrier died on Dec. 26, 2015. His death has since led Chicago police to “undergo mandatory ‘de-escalation’ training.”

5. Jeremy McDole

In a truly bizarre turn of events, Wilmington police shot a paralyzed, wheelchair-bound man on Sept. 23, 2015, after receiving a 911 call that he had shot himself.

6. Jason Harrison

Shirley Marshall Harrison needed assistance getting her bipolar schizophrenic son to the hospital on June 14, 2014. According to the lawsuit, “the police had been to the Harrison home a hundred times or more without incident, as it was well-known in the home and community that Jason was nonviolent.”

7. Betty Sexton

On Feb. 18, 2015, Sexton called Gastonia police for help removing unwanted guests from her home. Sexton did possess a gun and had warned officers beforehand that there were weapons in the house. However, according to local reports, “Sexton made no threats and didn’t fire.”

8. Kevin Davis

Imagine Davis’ horror when he came home and found his girlfriend stabbed. Naturally, he called the police, only to have his own life taken. He died on Dec. 29, 2014.

9. Kaldrick Donald

Kaldrick Donald’s mother called the Gretna Police Department on Oct. 28, 2014. During the call she requested police conduct a Baker Act and take her son to a mental health facility. Instead, they killed the 24-year-old in his home.

10. Jack Lamar Roberson

Roberson called 911 on October 4, 2013, “after experiencing an adverse reaction to a medication he took for his diabetes,” according to the Huffington Post. But he never made it to the hospital. “They just came in and shot him,” Alicia Herron, Roberson’s fiancee said.

Photo: Agnes Hasam, a family friend of the Alfred Olango, speaks to protesters gathered at the El Cajon Police Department headquarters to protest fatal shooting of an unarmed black man Tuesday by officers in El Cajon, California, U.S. September 28, 2016.  REUTERS/Earnie Grafton

More Protests Set After Police Kill Unarmed Black Man In California

More Protests Set After Police Kill Unarmed Black Man In California

(Reuters) – More protests were planned on Wednesday a day after a police officer in southern California shot and killed an unarmed black man, less than two weeks after similar incidents in two other U.S. cities.

In the latest shooting, two officers responded to calls about an African-American man in his 30s walking in traffic and “not acting like himself,” according to police in El Cajon, a city of about 100,000 residents some 15 miles (24 km) northeast of San Diego.

Days earlier, in Charlotte, North Carolina and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police and shot and killed black men, igniting demonstrations against racial bias in U.S. policing and demands for greater accountability for officers.

In Charlotte, rioting prompted the authorities to impose a state of emergency and curfew.

The El Cajon officers found the man behind a restaurant at about 2 p.m. PDT (2100 GMT) and ordered him to remove his hand from his pocket. After he refused, one officer drew a firearm and the other readied a Taser device, police said.

The man paced back and forth as the officers tried to talk to him with their weapons pointed at him, police said.

He then pulled an object from his front pants pocket, placed both hands together and extended them toward an officer in “what appeared to be a shooting stance,” police said.

The officers simultaneously shot and used the Taser on the man, who died after being taken to the hospital, police said. Officials have not identified him.

No weapon was found at the scene, El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis told reporters. He did not say what the man was pointing.

“Now is a time for calm,” Davis said. “I implore the community to be patient with us, work with us, look at the facts at hand before making any judgment.”

The officers were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such cases.

PROTEST PLANNED

Demonstrators planned to assemble outside the police department on Wednesday to “demand an end to the oppression of black and brown people,” said United Against Police Terror, an activist group organizing the event.

Some 30 protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, according to local media. They later marched to the police department, by which time the crowd had swollen to about 100 people, including community leaders, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In video that emerged on social media purportedly from the moments after the shooting, a woman who says she is the victim’s sister is heard saying she phoned police.

“Oh my God. You killed my brother. I just called for help and … you killed him,” the unidentified woman said, sobbing.

A witness voluntarily provided investigators with cell phone video of the incident, police said.

Police released a still photo from the video that appeared to show two officers pointing weapons at a man who was aiming an object at them.

The San Diego chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called for a swift and transparent investigation, and they condemned “disturbing” reports that police officers confiscated witnesses’ cell phones.

El Cajon police denied the claim. “No phones were confiscated from anyone at the scene,” the department said on Twitter.

The San Diego District Attorney was investigating the shooting, police said.

A study released in July showed police used force on black people at rates more than three times higher than for whites.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Photo: Protesters walk in the streets downtown during another night of protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. September 22, 2016.  REUTERS/Mike Blake