Black Lives Matter-Ugliness of Racism.

[spaminator]

Police recruit who lost both legs in ’barbaric hazing ritual’ sues Denver, paramedics and officers
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Colleen Slevin
Published Jul 30, 2024 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 4 minute read

DENVER — A police recruit who had to have both of his legs amputated after losing consciousness and repeatedly collapsing during fight training at Denver’s police academy is suing those who allegedly forced him to continue the “barbaric hazing ritual” after paramedics ignored warning signs.


Victor Moses, 29, alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that aggressive officers knocked him down multiple times in the second round of “fight day” last year, with one of them shoving him off the mat and causing him to hit his head on the floor. He said he was pressured to continue, with officers picking him up and setting him back on his feet, before paramedics standing by were asked to check him out, the lawsuit said.

Moses told them he had the sickle cell trait, which puts him at an increased risk of medical complications from high-intensity exercise. He also said he had very low blood pressure and complained that his legs were cramping, according to the lawsuit. The symptoms are danger signs for people with his condition.


Nevertheless, paramedics cleared Moses to return to training, which the suit alleges was a decision made to support the police.

The type of training described in the lawsuit is common in the United States and helps prepare recruits for scenarios they could face on patrol, said Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. Minor injuries are common and occasionally recruits die, often because of an underlying medical condition, he said.

Both the Denver Police Department and Denver Health, the public hospital that employed the paramedics, declined to comment on the allegations, saying they could not address pending litigation.

“Safety and well-being is a top priority for Denver Health and its paramedics,” the hospital said in a statement.


A telephone call and email seeking comment was also left with the city attorney’s office.

All recruits must complete the training to prepare them physically and mentally for fights they could encounter on the street. It includes having recruits punch and kick a dummy or a trainer holding pads, using a padded baton to fight trainers, wrestling and practicing to arrest a suspect who assaults them, according to the lawsuit.

The legal action alleges the practice is an unnecessarily violent rite of passage that recruits have to endure to be accepted into the police “fraternity.” It notes that other recruits suffered injuries before Moses started his drills, including one person whose nose was broken.

The lawsuit also claims that training teaches recruits that excessive force is “officially tolerated, and indeed culturally expected.”


Moses’ lawyers, John Holland and Darold Killmer, say that mindset has nurtured a violent police force and led to lawsuits costing Denver millions of dollars.

“Fight Day both encourages Denver police to engage in brutality and to be indifferent to the injuries they inflict,” Holland said.

The lawsuit claims paramedics cleared Moses to continue the training on Jan. 6, 2023 even though he was not able to stand or walk to the next round — wrestling. Instead, a trainer came to Moses and got on top of him. The recruit soon said he could not breathe, became unresponsive and was taken to the hospital, according to the lawsuit.

“If this had been a football game or boxing match, the head injury and losses of consciousness would have ended any continued participation or fighting immediately,” Moses’ lawyers argue.


The lawsuit alleges that Moses was essentially in police custody after becoming incapacitated and the victim of excessive force as the training continued without him being able to consent.

Moses used to spend free time going to breweries and hiking with friends, but now he is largely confined to his apartment in Denver. He is learning to walk again with prosthetics, but cannot electronically charge them himself because of damage also done to his hands. Despite taking powerful opioids, he lives with constant phantom pain from the limbs he no longer has.

The former rental car manager wanted to be a police officer because he thought it would be a more interesting and meaningful career for someone who enjoys connecting with people.


When Moses was eventually taken to the hospital, his lawyers say police mislead doctors by not revealing that he had hit his head on the floor, compromising the care doctors were able to provide.

Moses remained in the hospital for over four months, had both of his legs amputated below the knee and underwent surgery in July to try to restore his grip in one hand.

Now he wonders what would have happened if police had just stopped the training.

“I more than likely could still have my legs. I more than likely could still have my sanity. I could have been a police officer had you just not hazed us,” he told The Associated Press.

Police recruit who lost both legs in ’barbaric hazing ritual’ sues Denver, paramedics and officers

A police recruit had to have both of his legs amputated after losing consciousness and collapsing during fight training at Denver's academy

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Toronto's underground PATH system first to see Sankofa Square signage
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Aug 01, 2024 • 2 minute read

Toronto's underground PATH system is the first to get new signage for Sankofa Square, still known as Yonge-Dundas Square, with the Financial District BIA paying for the sign changes in the PATH.
Toronto's underground PATH system is the first to get new signage for Sankofa Square, still known as Yonge-Dundas Square, with the Financial District BIA paying for the sign changes in the PATH. Photo by Brian Lilley /Toronto Sun
Don’t be surprised if you start seeing signs for Sankofa Square, currently still called Yonge-Dundas Square.


One such sign was recently spotted in Toronto’s underground PATH and a city spokesperson confirmed there “will be a rolling update to signage, which began with the PATH system as it was part of the regular annual work they do and happens at no cost.”

Julian Sleath, Yonge-Dundas/Sankofa Square General Manager, says the Financial District BIA would be responsible for the sign changes in the PATH.

“Their mapping is responsible for the signage in the PATH system,” said Sleath.

“They do an annual update. Their budget is paying for the path system. It’s a gradual process as part of the normal routine changeovers and updates. (The new signage) is probably just in the PATH system (as it stands today).”

Toronto City Council heard back in May that the entire cost of renaming Yonge-Dundas Square will be anywhere from $105,000 to $200,000 for a sign bearing the city site’s new name, Sankofa Square.


The change is part of the city’s effort to eliminate the name Dundas from public assets.

Critics argue that Henry Dundas, a Scottish politician, delayed the abolition of slavery by 15 years. However, one descendent of Dundas, Bobby Dundas, has argued he was just trying to be strategic with his “gradual abolition” motion, according to the CBC.

Proponents of using the name, Sankofa, say it originated in Ghana and refers to the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past.

The cost of the sign change was detailed in a letter from City Manager Paul Johnson to Councillor Stephen Holyday.

“Specifically the signage is $105,000 of which currently $5,400 is being spent removing the pre-existing signage,” said Sleath.

“We will engage a company to help us with design and branding and over the next few months we will be working with them to finalize designs of what the new look will be and then we will commission a signage building company to install that. You probably won’t see any changes on the square itself until much later in the year.”

Toronto's underground PATH system first to see Sankofa Square signage

Don’t be surprised if you start seeing signs for Sankofa Square, currently still called Yonge-Dundas Square.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Teen brother of airman killed by Florida deputy shot to death near Atlanta
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 01, 2024 • 1 minute read

ATLANTA — The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriff’s deputy in May has been killed in a shooting in the Atlanta area, authorities said.


Senior Airman Roger Fortson’s 16-year-old brother, Andre Fortson, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlanta’s east side, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement.

“The Fortson family is battling the loss of yet another young member of their family,” Crump said. “This has been an incredibly challenging time for them with the loss of Roger. Losing the life of yet another young family member — a mere child — has been an absolute devastation.”

Andre Fortson was found shot to death in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Tuesday, authorities said. Two groups of people had been shooting at each other for unknown reasons, DeKalb County police told WSB-TV. A 20-year-old suspect was arrested on aggravated assault charges and booked into the DeKalb County Jail, the station reported.


Neighbors told WSB that they heard cars drive off after the gunfire, leaving Andre Fortson bleeding in the breezeway.

The killing comes about three months after Roger Fortson, 23, was killed May 3 by Okaloosa County sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran at Fortson’s apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The airman had answered the door while holding a handgun pointed toward the floor and was killed within seconds, body camera video shows.


Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and that he should not have fired his weapon.

A sheriff’s office internal affairs investigation found that Fortson “did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.”

The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Forston was killed. Roger Fortson was stationed at Air Force’s Hurlburt Field, where he was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron.

Teen brother of airman killed by Florida deputy shot to death near Atlanta

The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriff's deputy in May has been killed

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Cop who shot Sonya Massey thought rebuke ’in name of Jesus’ indicated intent to kill
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
John O'connor
Published Aug 05, 2024 • 3 minute read

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The deputy sheriff who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home last month said he believed that when the Black woman who called 911 for help unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” that she intended deadly harm, according to the deputy’s field report released Monday.


“I interpreted this to mean she was going to kill me,” Grayson wrote, adding that when he drew his pistol and Massey ducked behind a counter that separated them, he moved around the obstacle fearing that she was going to grab a weapon.

Grayson, a 30-year-old Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy, faces first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct charges in the death of the 36-year-old Springfield woman on July 6 which has drawn nationwide protests over the killing of Black people by police in their homes. Grayson has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.

Massey’s family has called for the resignation of Sheriff Jack Campbell — who has refused to step down — arguing that problems in Grayson’s past should have precluded a law enforcement assignment. The family has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment by phone, email or text.


Grayson and a second unidentified deputy answered her call about a suspected prowler just before 1 a.m. Inside her home, Grayson directed that a pan of water be removed from a burner on the stove. Grayson and Massey shared a chuckle as he warily moved away from the “hot steaming water.”

“Sonya turned to face me holding the pot. I did not know the type of liquid that was boiling,” Grayson wrote in his report three days after the incident.


“I advised Sonya to put the boiling liquid down. Sonya stated (she) was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus. She stated this twice. I interpreted this to mean she was going to kill me.”

Massey’s family has said that Sonya Massey struggled with mental health issues. She met the deputies at her front door by repeating, “Please God” and inside the house, asked Grayson to pass her a Bible.


Upon hearing the religious admonition, Grayson then drew his pistol and barked commands to “drop the (expletive) pot.” Massey ducked behind the counter, rose up and appeared to grab the pan again before diving for cover. Grayson said he stepped toward and around the counter to keep Massey in sight, wary that she might have a hidden weapon.

“As I approached the cabinet, Sonya stood up from a crouched position, grabbing the pot, raising it above her head and throwing the boiling substance at me,” Grayson reported. “I was in imminent fear of getting boiling liquid to my face or chest, which would have caused great bodily harm or death.”

It’s unclear from the video whether Massey attempted to toss the pan’s contents, and she was hidden beneath the counter when Grayson fired three 9 mm rounds, one of which struck Massey just below the eye. His report then indicates he looked down to see the liquid had “hit my boots and I observed steam coming from the cabinet area.”


By the time he completed the field report July 9, Grayson had been placed on administrative leave. The document indicates he received department permission to review the body camera video, the bulk of which had been recorded on the other deputy’s camera. Grayson said he thought his was on when the two first met Massey at the door, but he didn’t turn it on until just after the shooting.

The other deputy’s report was not part of the release, which included seven other officers’ reports of their activities at the site of the shooting and all completed on July 6 and one completed July 7, heavily redacted before release, by a deputy who had a casual conversation with someone who was familiar with Massey.

Cop who shot Sonya Massey thought rebuke ’in name of Jesus’ indicated intent to kill

The deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home last month said he believed that the Black woman intended deadly harm

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Todd Richmond
Published Aug 06, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read

MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees Tuesday with being a party to felony murder in connection with D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death.


Mitchell was Black. The incident has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning on race relations marked by multiple protests around the country.

Charged were hotel security guard Todd Erickson; front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson; bellhop Herbert Williamson; and security guard Brandon Turner. If convicted, they each would face up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

Reached by telephone Tuesday evening, Erickson referred a request for comment to his attorney, Michael Steinle, who didn’t return voicemail or email messages.

It was unclear if any of the other three employees had attorneys. Online court records didn’t list any for them Tuesday evening. A telephone listing for Williamson had been disconnected, and The Associated Press could not immediately locate phone numbers or other contact information for Johnson-Carson or Turner.


The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office said in a news release that arrest warrants had been issued for all four employees. The office and the Milwaukee Police Department did not immediately respond to emails inquiring if the employees had been arrested or had attorneys.

According to a criminal complaint, the four employees dragged Mitchell out of the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 after Mitchell entered a woman’s bathroom and held him on his stomach for eight or nine minutes. One of the employees told investigators that Mitchell was having trouble breathing and repeatedly pleaded for help, according to the complaint.

An autopsy showed that Mitchell suffered from morbid obesity and had ingested cocaine and methamphetamine, the complaint said.


Hyatt surveillance video shows Mitchell frantically running into the hotel’s lobby and then into the gift shop before entering the women’s bathroom, the complaint said. A few seconds later, a woman emerges and Turner, who was off-duty but happened to be visiting staff at that moment, drags Mitchell out of the bathroom into the lobby by his shirt.

The two begin to struggle, and Turner punches Mitchell, knocking him to the floor. He then punches Mitchell six times and drags him out of the hotel with the help of a bystander. Mitchell gets up and tries to go back inside.

Williamson, Johnson-Carson and Erickson, who was on duty as the security manager, then join the fray. Together with Turner they hold Mitchell down on his stomach for eight to nine minutes before police and emergency responders arrive. The video shows that during that span, Mitchell tries to break free multiple times, and Erickson hits him with a baton before he eventually stops moving, according to the complaint.


A video taken by a witness includes audio of Mitchell moaning and saying he is sorry. An autopsy found that Mitchell was morbidly obese and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

The county medical examiner ultimately determined that Mitchell died of “restraint asphyxia.” He may have lived if the employees allowed him to turn onto his side, the medical examiner said, according to the complaint.

Erickson told investigators that Mitchell was very strong and kept resisting them and tried to bite him. But the guard said he never did anything to intentionally hurt or harm Mitchell.

Turner told a detective that said that he heard women screaming in the bathroom after Mitchell entered it, and he thought Mitchell was on drugs. At one point while the group was holding Mitchell down, he moved Mitchell’s clothing off his face, he said, according to the complaint.


Johnson-Carson told investigators that Mitchell was not in a “stable sort of mind,” and he was speaking “gibberish,” the complaint said.

He said he remembered Mitchell saying “stop” and “why” and something about breathing while he was being held down. He told Williamson to stop applying pressure, which he did. Johnson-Carson said that Mitchell displayed “clear signs of extreme distress, including gags, distressed breathing and repeated pleas for help,” according to the complaint.

The complaint concludes that the employees had to have known Mitchell was in distress. “All of these factors, the gasping, the actions and words of DM, the distress that he was in, show that all four Defendants were aware that holding DM face first on the ground was ‘practically certain’ to cause impairment of his physical condition,” the complaint says.


Mitchell’s relatives and their lawyers had previously reviewed hotel surveillance video provided by the district attorney’s office. They described seeing Mitchell being chased inside the hotel by security guards and then dragged outside, where he was beaten.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is part of a team of lawyers representing Mitchell’s family, has said video recorded by a bystander and circulating on social media shows security guards with their knees on Mitchell’s back and neck.

Crump posted a statement on X on Tuesday evening calling the charges “a significant step towards justice for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell!”

Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, said previously that several employees involved in Mitchell’s death have been fired.

The company released a statement Tuesday evening saying it had cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate with prosecutors. “Our hearts are with Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones as this case moves forward,” the statement said.

Hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death

Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees with being a party to felony murder in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Todd Richmond
Published Aug 06, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read

MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees Tuesday with being a party to felony murder in connection with D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death.


Mitchell was Black. The incident has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning on race relations marked by multiple protests around the country.

Charged were hotel security guard Todd Erickson; front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson; bellhop Herbert Williamson; and security guard Brandon Turner. If convicted, they each would face up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

Reached by telephone Tuesday evening, Erickson referred a request for comment to his attorney, Michael Steinle, who didn’t return voicemail or email messages.

It was unclear if any of the other three employees had attorneys. Online court records didn’t list any for them Tuesday evening. A telephone listing for Williamson had been disconnected, and The Associated Press could not immediately locate phone numbers or other contact information for Johnson-Carson or Turner.


The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office said in a news release that arrest warrants had been issued for all four employees. The office and the Milwaukee Police Department did not immediately respond to emails inquiring if the employees had been arrested or had attorneys.

According to a criminal complaint, the four employees dragged Mitchell out of the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 after Mitchell entered a woman’s bathroom and held him on his stomach for eight or nine minutes. One of the employees told investigators that Mitchell was having trouble breathing and repeatedly pleaded for help, according to the complaint.

An autopsy showed that Mitchell suffered from morbid obesity and had ingested cocaine and methamphetamine, the complaint said.


Hyatt surveillance video shows Mitchell frantically running into the hotel’s lobby and then into the gift shop before entering the women’s bathroom, the complaint said. A few seconds later, a woman emerges and Turner, who was off-duty but happened to be visiting staff at that moment, drags Mitchell out of the bathroom into the lobby by his shirt.

The two begin to struggle, and Turner punches Mitchell, knocking him to the floor. He then punches Mitchell six times and drags him out of the hotel with the help of a bystander. Mitchell gets up and tries to go back inside.

Williamson, Johnson-Carson and Erickson, who was on duty as the security manager, then join the fray. Together with Turner they hold Mitchell down on his stomach for eight to nine minutes before police and emergency responders arrive. The video shows that during that span, Mitchell tries to break free multiple times, and Erickson hits him with a baton before he eventually stops moving, according to the complaint.


A video taken by a witness includes audio of Mitchell moaning and saying he is sorry. An autopsy found that Mitchell was morbidly obese and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

The county medical examiner ultimately determined that Mitchell died of “restraint asphyxia.” He may have lived if the employees allowed him to turn onto his side, the medical examiner said, according to the complaint.

Erickson told investigators that Mitchell was very strong and kept resisting them and tried to bite him. But the guard said he never did anything to intentionally hurt or harm Mitchell.

Turner told a detective that said that he heard women screaming in the bathroom after Mitchell entered it, and he thought Mitchell was on drugs. At one point while the group was holding Mitchell down, he moved Mitchell’s clothing off his face, he said, according to the complaint.


Johnson-Carson told investigators that Mitchell was not in a “stable sort of mind,” and he was speaking “gibberish,” the complaint said.

He said he remembered Mitchell saying “stop” and “why” and something about breathing while he was being held down. He told Williamson to stop applying pressure, which he did. Johnson-Carson said that Mitchell displayed “clear signs of extreme distress, including gags, distressed breathing and repeated pleas for help,” according to the complaint.

The complaint concludes that the employees had to have known Mitchell was in distress. “All of these factors, the gasping, the actions and words of DM, the distress that he was in, show that all four Defendants were aware that holding DM face first on the ground was ‘practically certain’ to cause impairment of his physical condition,” the complaint says.


Mitchell’s relatives and their lawyers had previously reviewed hotel surveillance video provided by the district attorney’s office. They described seeing Mitchell being chased inside the hotel by security guards and then dragged outside, where he was beaten.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is part of a team of lawyers representing Mitchell’s family, has said video recorded by a bystander and circulating on social media shows security guards with their knees on Mitchell’s back and neck.

Crump posted a statement on X on Tuesday evening calling the charges “a significant step towards justice for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell!”

Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, said previously that several employees involved in Mitchell’s death have been fired.

The company released a statement Tuesday evening saying it had cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate with prosecutors. “Our hearts are with Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones as this case moves forward,” the statement said.

Hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death

Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees with being a party to felony murder in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death

torontosun.com

An autopsy found that Mitchell was morbidly obese and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

Who forced him to get high as fuck?

 

[spaminator]

Bodycam video shows Baltimore cops opening fire on fleeing teen moments after seeing gun
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lea Skene
Published Aug 09, 2024 • 3 minute read

BALTIMORE — Newly released body-camera footage shows three Baltimore police officers unleashing a barrage of gunfire on a fleeing teenage suspect almost immediately after spotting a gun in his hand.


William Gardner, 17, was shot a dozen times, officials said at a news conference Friday afternoon when they released the footage. He was pronounced dead at the scene Monday night.

The shooting prompted outrage from residents of Gardner’s southwest Baltimore neighborhood who questioned the officers’ reasoning. While acknowledging that officers have a difficult and dangerous job, critics argue it was unnecessary for police to kill the teen over an illegal handgun, calling this the latest case of excessive force against a young Black man.

Baltimore Police Department leaders said Gardner pointed his gun at officers in the moments before he was killed, but it’s not completely clear from the bodycam footage whether he was aiming at police or threatening them with the weapon before they opened fire.


The video does clearly show a gun in Gardner’s right hand. However, the situation escalates so fast that it’s unclear what exactly the officers were reacting to when they started shooting.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley called the shooting “truly a tragic incident” and emphasized that the department is conducting a thorough investigation. He didn’t immediately praise the officers’ actions, as he’s sometimes done in the aftermath of other recent police shootings.

Worley said it was too soon to say whether the officers used excessive force but he noted that they were chasing someone who was “clearly armed” and warned him numerous times to drop his weapon.

“We recognize that any use of force by law enforcement lends itself to a high level of public criticism. And so we take those concerns very seriously and are committed to continued conversation with the community,” he said at the start of Friday’s news conference. “We don’t have all the answers today because we’re only a few days into the investigation.”


Officials said officers in the department’s Group Violence Unit were patrolling that part of southwest Baltimore because they had received a report of guns being discharged about an hour earlier. The area has also seen a recent uptick in shootings and robberies, but Worley said his understanding is that the officers weren’t looking for Gardner specifically; they were just patrolling the area.

They drove past a group of people gathered on the sidewalk and noticed Gardner grabbing his waistband, officials said. He started quickly walking away from the group when an officer tried to approach him on foot. He then started running and the officer chased him. Meanwhile three other officers followed along.

The bodycam footage doesn’t show that initial interaction. Officials said the officers didn’t have their cameras turned on because they were only driving around, per department policy. The video starts during the chase.


It shows two officers screaming at Gardner while he runs alongside their moving vehicle, ordering him repeatedly to “get on the ground” or “you’re gonna get shot.”

“I will shoot you,” one officer yells.

Those officers appear to open fire immediately after stopping their vehicle. Moments earlier, another officer had approached Gardner on foot and apparently tried to grab him. That officer also opens fire as Gardner appears to raise his gun and turns toward the incoming police vehicle.

The officers fired up to 21 shots, officials said. None of them were injured. They’ve been placed on administrative duties pending the results of the investigation.

Gardner did not fire his handgun but officials said it was loaded.


The shooting follows two others that unfolded under similar circumstances last year in Baltimore. All three encounters escalated quickly, starting when officers saw someone on the street and believed they could be armed.

Police shootings in other cities have also raised similar questions in recent years, with prosecutors, courts and the public considering when an officer should use whatever means necessary to stop a fleeing suspect.

The Baltimore Police Department has implemented a series of reforms in recent years after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray turned an unwelcome spotlight on the agency. Much of its efforts have focused on restoring public trust, but residents of the city’s majority-Black communities often complain that little has changed.

Neighbors said Gardner was a familiar face in the area who sometimes picked up work at a nearby convenience store.

His loved ones created a makeshift memorial and left handwritten messages on the corner where he died, using tealight candles to spell his name and decorating a street sign with streamers and balloons.

http://fb.watch/tSjI9O5wgz

Bodycam video shows Baltimore cops opening fire on fleeing teen moments after seeing gun

Newly released body-camera footage shows three Baltimore police officers unleashing a barrage of gunfire on a fleeing teenage suspect

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Illinois sheriff retiring after deputy he hired was charged with Sonya Massey murder
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
John O'connor And Rick Callahan
Published Aug 09, 2024 • 4 minute read

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois sheriff who hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey announced Friday that he will retire, five weeks after the 36-year-old Black woman was fatally shot in her home.


Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, who won the office in 2018, said politics stood in the way of his effectiveness as sheriff and suggested he and his family had received death threats. Campbell, a 30-year veteran of the department, had previously said he did “not intend to step down.”

“We must honor the life of Sonya Massey by ensuring that no one else falls victim to such tragic and senseless action. That has been my sincere mission since that fateful day,” Campbell said in a statement. “But it has become clear that the current political climate has made it nearly impossible for me to continue effectively in my role.

“Some individuals would rather see our community divided and in turmoil than allow me to continue serving as sheriff,” Campbell said.


A Republican, the 60-year-old Campbell said he would vacate his office no later than Aug. 31.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, demanded this week that Campbell step aside, saying he had not provided answers to questions about how Sean Grayson became a deputy in the central Illinois county that’s home to the state capital of Springfield. Grayson, 30, was fired after being indicted on murder and other charges in Massey’s July 6 killing.

Previously, Massey’s father, James Wilburn, called Campbell “an embarrassment” and called for him to quit.

Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He is being held without bond in the Menard County Jail. His defense attorney has declined to comment on the case.


Authorities said that after Massey called 911 to report a suspected prowler, two deputies went to her residence in Springfield, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

Sheriff’s body camera video released on July 22 confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled across a kitchen counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water. When he then threatened to shoot the unarmed woman, Massey ducked and briefly rose. In the chaos, it appeared she picked up the pan again and Grayson fired his 9 mm pistol three times, hitting her once just beneath her left eye, according to autopsy findings.

When Grayson was fired, Campbell said it was evident the deputy “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”


Campbell attended a listening session with community members on July 29 asking for the Massey family’s forgiveness and saying, “I offer up no excuses.”

Illinois law enforcement records show that Grayson’s policing career began in 2020 with six jobs in four years. That career included short stints as a part-time officer at three small police departments and a full-time job at a fourth department as well as working full time at two sheriff’s offices, all in central Illinois.

A decade ago, he was kicked out of the Army for the first of two drunken driving convictions in which he had a weapon in his car, authorities said. He was convicted of DUI again less than a year later.

Law enforcement experts say those convictions plus his previous employment record should have raised serious questions when the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department hired him in May 2023.


He was disciplined while a deputy for Logan County, north of Springfield, for not following a superior’s command to halt a high-speed chase — an indiscretion Campbell said he was not made aware of when seeking a reference from Logan County. But there’s no evidence he was forced out of any of those jobs.

“This man (Grayson) should have never had a badge,” Wilburn said. “And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”


Wilburn’s call for Campbell’s job was followed by that of several Democrats on the GOP-dominated county board and then Pritzker, who claimed Campbell had not been forthcoming with answers about Grayson’s hiring, what reforms he planned to implement and why he hadn’t met with the Massey family.


“I just want to know and he has been unwilling to answer the questions — if he’d been willing to do these things, then act. He’s had a month,” Pritzker said. “There would be a lot less frustration, a lot more perhaps a sense of safety. But none of that was done by the sheriff.”

Campbell’s office reserved a website exclusively for questions about the incident where Grayson’s personnel file, audio of 911 calls, deputies’ field reports from July 6 and other documents requested by the public were posted. He said he had reached out to Massey family intermediaries asking to sit down with them on four occasions but none had been accepted.

Marc Ayers, a Democratic county board member who sought Campbell’s departure, said in a statement that the board “must implement bold reforms to bring further accountability and transparency” to the sheriff’s office.

“I invite the community to heal and come together as we fight for justice not just for Sonya Massey, but for all Sangamon County residents,” Ayers said.

Campbell worked for the sheriff’s office for more than 24 years as a deputy before retiring in 2016. He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2014 but won four years later.

An emailed message was sent seeking comment from Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the Massey family.

If convicted, Grayson faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.

Illinois sheriff retiring after deputy he hired was charged with Sonya Massey murder

An Illinois sheriff who hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey announced Friday that he will retire

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I'd like to think it's because he's plagued by the knowledge that hiring somebody he knew was a bad cop got an innocent killed, but more likely he's just getting outta town one step ahead of the posse.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I'd like to think it's because he's plagued by the knowledge that hiring somebody he knew was a bad cop got an innocent killed, but more likely he's just getting outta town one step ahead of the posse.

Probably a bit of column A and a bit of column B. Plus government pension.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Probably a bit of column A and a bit of column B. Plus government pension.

That's what I meant about the posse. Some government contracts strip your pension if you're fired "for cause."

 

[spaminator]

Officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 13, 2024 • 2 minute read

081324-Ta'Kiya-Young
This still image from bodycam video released by the Blendon Township Police on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, shows an officer pointing his gun at Ta'Kiya Young moments before shooting her through the windshield outside a grocery store in Blendon Township, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, on Aug. 24. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on murder and other charges in the shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August.


Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb and a fellow officer approached her car. The other officer ordered her out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.

Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township police, called the indictment deeply disappointing. “Like all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar for those who protect our communities,” he said in a statement.


Young’s family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After viewing bodycam footage showing the officer firing the gun, the family called his actions a “gross misuse of power and authority,” especially given that Young had been accused of a relatively minor crime.

In the video, an officer at the driver’s side window tells Young she’s been accused of shoplifting and orders her out of the car. Young protests, both officers curse at her and yell at her to get out, and Young can be heard asking them, “Are you going to shoot me?”

Seconds later, she turns the steering wheel to the right, the car rolls slowly forward and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, after the car comes to a stop against the building, they break the driver’s side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded.


The encounter between Young and police was among a troubling series of fatal shootings of Black adults and children by Ohio officers, and followed various episodes of police brutality against Black people across the nation over the past several years.

Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has started a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been indicted.

“No one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law,” the police chief said in a statement. “However, since people who’ve been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process.”

Officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb and a fellow officer approached her car. The other officer ordered her out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.

A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.

Shoulda charged him with performing an abortion. The Klan'd be lining up to crucify him.

 

[petros]

Shoulda charged him with performing an abortion. The Klan'd be lining up to crucify him.

She was already working on that herself...

Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol

Just what the world needed. Another FASD kid running around with a gun.

 

[spaminator]

No testimony from Florida white woman accused in fatal shooting of Black neighbour
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Curt Anderson
Published Aug 15, 2024 • 2 minute read

A white Florida woman on trial for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of her Black neighbour after a lengthy feud said Thursday she will not take the witness stand in her own defense as testimony wrapped up.


Susan Lorincz told Marion County Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges that she opted not to testify after consulting her lawyers, adding that she was not coerced into the decision.

“I am not going to testify,” Lorincz said.

“You’ve made that decision freely and voluntarily?” the judge asked.

“Yes I have,” she replied.

With that, the defense rested after calling three expert witnesses on ballistics and crime scenes. Prosecutors finished their case Wednesday. Lorincz, 60, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted in the June 2023 shooting 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens, her neighbor in Ocala, Florida.

The two had a long-running dispute over Owens’ children — she was a mother of four — playing boisterously near Lorincz’s home. The night she was shot, Owens had been pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling loudly after Lorincz allegedly threw roller skates and an umbrella at the kids, testimony showed. Lorincz fired one round from her .380-caliber handgun through the door, hitting Owens in the chest and killing her.


Prosecutors and defense attorneys will give their closing arguments Friday morning, followed by jury instructions by the judge. Then the all-white panel of six jurors will begin deliberations.

“When you deliberate the case, you’ll have as much time as you want,” Hodges told the jurors.

Although she did not testify, prosecutors played recorded interviews between detectives and Lorincz in which she insisted she was in fear for her life and fired the gun in self-defense. Owens’ family and their attorneys have disputed that, contending Lorincz intended to harm Owens from the beginning.

The case gained national attention when protests erupted in the Black community while prosecutors debated over several weeks whether to charge Lorincz with second-degree murder or manslaughter. opting ultimately for the lesser offense.

Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida.

No testimony from Florida white woman accused in fatal shooting of Black neighbour

A white Florida woman on trial for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of her Black neighbour after a lengthy feud said she will not testify

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

It's all in good fun
'Til somebody pulls a gun

 

[spaminator]

Child sex trafficking victim who killed her abuser to finally learn her fate
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jessica Contrera
Published Aug 15, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 7 minute read

When a child sex trafficking victim kills her abuser, what punishment does she deserve? On Monday, a Wisconsin judge is set to decide the answer, ending six years of legal limbo for Chrystul Kizer and the family of the man she killed.


Before taking a plea deal earlier this year, Kizer, now 24, was facing a possible life sentence for shooting 34-year-old Randall Volar III when she was 17. Volar, who was White, had been filming his sexual abuse of Kizer, who is Black, for more than a year.

Months before his death, a 2019 Washington Post investigation showed, police and prosecutors had obtained video evidence that Volar was sexually abusing multiple Black girls who appeared to be underage. He was allowed to remain free. Then police found his house on fire, his body inside and two bullet wounds in his head.

Prosecutors in Kenosha, Wis., who declined to comment for this report, have long argued that Kizer premeditated the murder in order to steal Volar’s BMW. Kizer has maintained that she was acting in self-defense after being pinned down by Volar.

Now, after choosing to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon, Kizer is facing up to 30 years in prison. Speaking publicly for the first time in almost five years, Kizer said she chose a plea deal because she is ready to apologize to Volar’s family, bring her case to a close and hope that the judge will sentence her only to the time she has already served.

“I get to try to move on,” Kizer said in an interview from jail. “I can show the court that I’m not the same person that I was when I was 17.”

Her case has challenged the limits of the criminal justice system’s growing leniency for sex trafficking victims who end up behind bars. As police, prosecutors, judges and lawmakers have been trained regarding the trauma endured by those coerced into commercial sex, many states have implemented laws allowing trafficking victims to be cleared of certain charges – such as prostitution or theft – if they can prove their crimes occurred because they were being trafficked.


With the support of #MeToo movement advocates, celebrities and more than a million Change.org petition signers, Kizer tested whether an “affirmative defense” for trafficking victims could be used in a case of homicide. In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking ruling in her favor, granting her the ability to show a jury evidence of what she was experiencing at the time of the crime.

“Wisconsin’s law says that she should not be responsible for crimes committed as a direct result of her sexual exploitation. It doesn’t say ‘except for murder,'” said Diane Rosenfeld, who founded the gender violence program at Harvard Law School and has advocated on Kizer’s behalf. “The court should take into account the circumstances of her abuse.”


But rather than risk a life sentence at trial, Kizer chose to place her future in the hands of a Wisconsin circuit court judge, David Wilk. The judge, who has overseen the case for six years, will hear both sides’ final arguments on Monday.

Prosecutors and Volar’s family are expected to assert that Volar was the victim of a heinous crime worthy of a serious sentence. Kizer’s expert witnesses will contend that she was a victim, too, and is deserving of trauma treatment.

Then, Wilk will decide where Kizer will go next: a counseling program or a prison cell.


The crime
Kizer did not know what sex trafficking was when, at 16 years old, she signed herself up for a website notorious for it: Backpage.com. Under federal law, no minor can consent to being bought or sold for sex, regardless of the circumstances. But Kizer, whose family had recently lived in a Milwaukee homeless shelter after fleeing a domestic abuser, said she wanted to find her own way of earning money for snacks and school supplies.


Volar, she said, was the first to respond to her ad. In interviews and court filings, Kizer has said that in exchange for sex acts, Volar took her on dates and gave her cash, gifts and drugs. Records show that when she was arrested on charges related to driving a stolen car, Volar paid her bail. Though prosecutors have maintained that Volar’s only role in sex trafficking minors was as a buyer, Kizer said he would drive her to meet other men, then take the money.

Kizer once described Volar as her only friend. In July, as Kizer fidgeted in her orange jumpsuit, she said her understanding of what happened to her has changed.

“I was manipulated,” she said. “As a kid, I thought that I was supposed to listen to every adult.” But she realized “not all of them are good.”


Kizer was not the only young Black girl listening to Volar.

In February 2018, four months before Volar’s death, a 15-year-old called 911 from Volar’s house, saying a man had given her drugs and was going to kill her. Officers found her in the street, drugged and shirtless. She alleged that Volar had been paying her for sex since she was 14. She warned them that he was also filming his abuse of other girls, including one named “Chrystal.”

Police found “hundreds” of videos of child sexual abuse in Volar’s home, including more than 20 he’d filmed himself. Some of those videos showed Kizer.

Volar was arrested and charged with child enticement and child sexual assault. But the same day, he was released. He remained free for months, and no criminal charges were officially filed.


In a 2019 interview, Kenosha prosecutor Michael Graveley said that his office did not know the age of the girls in the videos, and delayed filing charges until they could determine whether they were minors.

But records obtained by The Post show that investigators described many of the girls being abused in Volar’s videos as appearing to be in their early and mid teens. One, they wrote, could have been as young as 12.

“They should have located those girls. He should have went to jail,” said Kizer’s mother, Devore Taylor. “Had they approached the situation correctly from the get go, he would still be alive.” And her daughter, she said, wouldn’t be facing years in prison.

Prosecutors have pointed to texts and social media messages as evidence that Kizer planned to kill Volar, including one she sent from Volar’s home on the night of the murder that said, “I’m finna do it.” They said she downloaded a police scanner app before shots were fired and posted a laughing emoji on Facebook beside the words “MY MUG SHOT.”


After being arrested in June of 2018, she told detectives that Volar was on top of her on the ground when she retrieved a gun from her purse and shot him. She lit a fire in his home and fled in his car. She was tired, she told detectives, of Volar touching her.

Charged with arson and first-degree intentional homicide, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, Kizer remained in jail for two years, until 2020, when a bond fund that had been flooded with donations after the killing of George Floyd paid $400,000 for her release.

Her case received even more attention the following year, as activists contrasted her experience in Kenosha against that of Kyle Rittenhouse, a White 17-year-old, who a jury determined was acting in self-defense when he killed two people during a protest.


Then came the state Supreme Court’s decision in Kizer’s favor, ruling that she should have the chance to show that there was a “necessary logical connection” between her exploitation and the offense.

With public support and a significant legal win, Kizer’s case seemed destined for a jury trial. But in January, Kizer called police on a boyfriend – and ended up facing a disorderly conduct charge. Though that charge was dropped, it was a violation of her release conditions. Kizer was charged with felony bail jumping and returned to jail.


‘Forgiveness’
Since being incarcerated a second time, Kizer said she has been reading Janet Evanovich books and trying to find the right words to put in a letter to Volar’s family.


“I know they look at me like I’m a bad person,” she said. “I would like their forgiveness.”

Volar’s father, Randall Volar II, declined to comment until the sentencing hearing is over. In 2019, he told The Post that his son was a “good man” who is dearly missed. “What happened is a tragedy for both families, the Kizers and the Volars,” he said.

Kizer said that while she knows she is likely to face prison time, she thought that taking the plea would guarantee her freedom, even if it is years away. In her years out of jail, she came to understand what a normal life might one day look like.

She waitressed at Red Lobster and took classes toward a high school diploma. She dressed her dog, Twilight, in a Green Bay Packers sweater and bought herself one to match. She attended counseling whenever someone she trusted would give her a ride to the sessions. She wouldn’t take the bus, she said, because she was afraid to be around strangers.

As her sentencing date approaches, she is thinking about the hours she spent playing The Sims 4, a video game that lets players build their own alternate universe. In the game, she had her own house. She was a wife, a mom and a nurse. In the game, her future was in her own hands.

Child sex trafficking victim who killed her abuser to finally learn her fate

A Wisconsin judge is set to decide the answer, ending six years of legal limbo for Chrystul Kizer and the family of the man she killed.

torontosun.com

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Sentence? I would say a reward should be in order.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Sentence? I would say a reward should be in order.

Full-ride scholarship with living expenses and free therapy.

 

[spaminator]

Family of woman killed by falling utility pole to receive $30M settlement
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jeffrey Collins
Published Aug 16, 2024 • 2 minute read

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The family of a South Carolina woman struck in the head and killed by a rotting 70-year-old utility pole will get $30 million through a wrongful death settlement reached Thursday.


Electric company Dominion Energy, which installed a light on the pole, and communications company Comporium, which owned a drooping pole line in downtown Wagener that was no longer in use, both signed off on the agreement, which resolved a wrongful death suit brought by Jeunelle Robinson’s family, according to documents filed in Aiken County.

Last August, a truck snagged the line, pulling it like a rubber band until it broke the poles and launched one into the air, striking Robinson, who was grabbing lunch during her break as a social studies teacher at Wagener-Salley High School, authorities said. The truck had a legal height, they said.

Surveillance video from a nearby store shows Robinson, 31, try to dodge something before the pole strikes her, flipping her body around violently. She died a short time later at the hospital.


“We appreciate the leadership of Dominion and Comporium for working with us to ensure Jeunelle’s family would not have to relive this tragedy in court unnecessarily,” the family’s lawyer, Justin Bamberg, said in a statement.

The settlement agreement does not detail how much each company will have to pay of the $30 million settlement, and Bamberg’s law office said that would not be released.

The exact age of the poles isn’t known because records are no longer available. Markings on them haven’t been made in over 60 years. However, the 69-year-old mayor of Wagener said shortly after Robinson’s death that he recognized a bottlecap he had nailed to one of the poles when he was a boy.

A little more than a month before Robinson’s death, Dominion announced a plan to begin replacing equipment that was more than 60 years old in Wagener, a town of 600 people about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Columbia.


Bamberg said he hopes Dominion and Comporium will use the tragedy to pay attention to inspecting and replacing aging utility poles and other infrastructure that are potentially dangerous, especially in small towns.

Dominion spokeswoman Rhonda Maree O’Banion said in a statement that the company was pleased to resolve the case and extended its deepest sympathies to Robinson’s family.

Comporium is glad to have resolved the lawsuit, and “our prayers have been with the family of Ms. Robinson and the many lives she touched since this accident occurred,” Chief Operating Officer Matthew Dosch said in a statement.

The family plans to use some of the settlement to create the “Jeunelle Robinson Teacher’s Hope Fund” to provide school supplies and other items to teachers around the country.

They remembered how Robinson worked her way up from a substitute to her job teaching at the high school and how she often spent her own money and time for her students.

“She loved her class. She loved her students,” Robinson’s father, Donovan Julian, said in March when the lawsuit was filed. “She was a light taken too soon. She was a joy.”

Family of woman killed by falling utility pole to receive $30M settlement

The family of a woman struck in the head and killed by a rotting utility pole will get $30 million through a wrongful death settlement

torontosun.com