Oops, I Did It Again

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
138
63
Location, Location
He wasn't Somali, he was American. Why is it that the same right-wingers who piss and moan whenever minorities call themselves African Americans or Hispanic Americans or Native Americans are the first to deny the term "American" to somebody who's not white?

And he didn't shoot through the passenger window, he shot through the driver's window.



People on here don't like facts. Stop confusing them.
 

Twila

Nanah Potato
Mar 26, 2003
14,698
73
48
Perhaps, but history shows us that the main use of "the militia" in the United States was to murder blacks and Indians.

maybe the militia has developed a new name...police.

If your a hate filled racist, what better job then a cop? Its the same reason pedophiles work with children. There's no big surprise there really.
 

Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
55,430
6,996
113
Washington DC
maybe the militia has developed a new name...police.
Nope. The critical difference is that the militia is a creature of the community. The police, and for that matter what we call the National Guard, are creatures of the state. They do not respond to the community, they respond to their masters.

I'm not claiming the militia is some sort of omnibenevolent group of guardian angels: when the community is vile, the militia will be vile. Just that it responds to and reflects the community and not the bosses.

If your a hate filled racist, what better job then a cop? Its the same reason pedophiles work with children. There's no big surprise there really.
Or even if you're just too dumb for college and too gutless for the Army.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
3,002
113
911 calls woman made before cop killed her played in court
Associated Press
Published:
April 10, 2019
Updated:
April 10, 2019 5:51 PM EDT
In this July 23, 2018, file photo, a poster of Justine Ruszczyk Damond is displayed at a news conference by attorneys for her family in Minneapolis. Amy Forliti / AP
MINNEAPOLIS — Jurors on Wednesday heard the 911 calls a woman made to report a possible sexual assault before she was shot by a Minneapolis officer now on trial for murder in her death.
The recordings of Justine Ruszczyk Damond’s voice drew an emotional response from her family members in the Hennepin County courtroom where Mohammed Noor is on trial.
Family of Australian woman killed by Minneapolis cop sues for $50M
Noor shot Damond in an alley behind her home in July 2017 when the unarmed woman, barefoot and wearing pyjamas, approached the police SUV where he and his partner were seated. Noor’s attorneys say he was protecting his partner and himself from what he perceived to be a possible ambush. He fired a single shot at Damond, a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Australia whose death rocked both countries and led to changes in the Minneapolis Police Department.
Defence attorney Tom Plunkett said Noor and his partner, Matthew Harrity, would haven’t known they were responding to a possible sexual assault because they didn’t hear her 911 calls and were told by dispatchers only that there was a report of a woman screaming behind a building.
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, centre, is accompanied by his attorneys Peter Wold, not pictured, and Thomas Plunkett, right, as he walks towards the Hennepin County Government Center for opening arguments of his trial Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Minneapolis. David Joles / Star Tribune via AP
Attorneys for Noor, who was fired after being charged in the case and has never talked to investigators about what happened, argued that he used reasonable force to defend himself and his partner from a perceived threat. But prosecutors say there is no evidence he faced a threat that justified deadly force.
Story continues below
Prosecutors’ plans to introduce body camera video showing the aftermath of the shooting were stalled when Plunkett moved to exclude the footage, arguing it would be prejudicial to his client. The footage doesn’t capture the shooting itself because officers turned them only afterwards. It shows the officers’ attempts to save Damond.
Judge Kathryn Quaintance agreed to hold off on the footage until she has time to review case law.
Damond, 40, was a life coach who was engaged to be married in a month. Noor, 33, is a Somali American whose arrival on the force just a couple of years earlier had been trumpeted by city leaders working to diversify the police force.
Noor’s attorneys have not said whether he will testify. The shooting raised questions about Noor’s training. The police chief defended Noor’s training, but the chief was forced to resign days later. The shooting also led to changes in the department’s policy on use of body cameras.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/911-calls-woman-made-before-cop-killed-her-played-in-court
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
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Ex-cop on trial for shooting unarmed woman who called 911 testifies he fired 'to stop threat'
Associated Press
Published:
April 26, 2019
Updated:
April 26, 2019 12:09 AM EDT
MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minneapolis police officer on trial in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman testified Thursday that he saw fear in his partner’s eyes, then saw a woman in a pink shirt with blond hair appear at the partner’s window and raise her right arm before he fired his gun “to stop the threat.”
Mohamed Noor refused to talk to investigators after the July 2017 shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, making his testimony his first public statements since her death.
Damond had called 911 minutes earlier to report a possible sexual assault behind her home, and was shot as she approached Noor’s squad car after he and his partner had rolled down her alley looking for evidence of a woman in distress.
911 calls woman made before cop killed her played in court
Family of Australian woman killed by Minneapolis cop sues for $50M
Minneapolis officer charged in shooting of Australian woman
Noor testified that he fired to stop what he thought was a threat to his partner, Matthew Harrity, after Noor heard a loud bang on the driver’s side of the squad car. Noor said he didn’t fear for his partner’s life when he heard the bang, but did afterward when Harrity yelled “Oh Jesus!” and went for his weapon. Noor said Harrity was having difficulty pulling his gun from his holster.
Noor said he pressed his left arm over Harrity’s chest, and saw a woman in a pink shirt with blond hair outside Harrity’s driver’s side window. Noor said the woman raised her right arm — and he made a split-second decision.
“I fired one shot,” he said, later adding: “My intent was to stop the threat and save my partner’s life.”
When he realized he had shot an innocent woman, Noor said, “I felt like my whole world came crashing down.”
“I couldn’t breathe,” said Noor, who described feeling great pain.
In this July 23, 2018, file photo, a poster of Justine Ruszczyk Damond is displayed at a news conference by attorneys for her family in Minneapolis. Amy Forliti / AP
He began crying and said that if he had known something like this would happen, “I would never have become a cop.”
Noor’s attorney, Tom Plunkett, asked: “Would you have discharged your weapon that evening if you were not concerned for your safety and your partner’s safety?” Noor said he would not.
Prosecutor Amy Sweasy pounced on that during her cross-examination, asking Noor if he believed “concern” was enough to fire his weapon. Noor said it was when looking at all the circumstances and to protect himself and Harrity from death or great bodily harm.
Sweasy also attacked Noor for making a quick decision without being able to see Damond’s hands, or whether she was carrying a weapon or a cellphone.
Noor testified that he had been Harrity’s partner since December 2016, and the pair had nearly 400 hours on the job together. He said the partner relationship is “like a marriage” and he knew Harrity well enough to know when his partner was terrified.
Earlier Thursday, Noor described the unorthodox path he took to becoming an officer — he was working as a pharmaceutical analyst before deciding to switch careers — and then detailed his 29-week cadet training in 2015.
Noor was fired from the force soon after being charged.
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, right, with attorneys Peter Wold, back left, and Thomas Plunkett, centre right, walk out of the Hennepin County Government Center Thursday, April 25, 2019, in Minneapolis. Brian Peterson / AP
His attorneys have said he feared an ambush, and Noor testified about “counter-ambush” training that included scenarios such as two officers in a squad car, doing routine tasks, and an instructor yelling “Threat!” The officers had to make a quick decision about whether to shoot, Noor said.
“Action is better than reaction,” Noor said. “If you’re reacting, that means it’s too late … to protect yourself. … You die.”
Noor described another training exercise where he was sent to a location, heard gunshots and instead of assessing the threat, he ran toward it. An instructor shot him with a paintball gun, he said.
“So the point is if you don’t do your job correctly, you’ll get killed,” Plunkett said.
“Yes sir,” Noor answered.
The death of Damond, a 40-year-old life coach who was engaged to be married a month after her death, sparked anger and disbelief in both the U.S. and Australia, cost Minneapolis’ police chief her job and contributed to the electoral defeat of the city’s mayor a few months later.
Prosecutors have questioned the supposed noise, presumably from Damond slapping the car as she approached, by noting that investigators didn’t find forensic evidence of Damond’s fingerprints on the car. They also questioned the timing of Harrity’s first mention of the thump — not the night of the shooting, but a few days later, as he was being interviewed by state investigators.
Neither officer had a body camera running when Damond was shot, something Harrity blamed on what he called a vague policy that didn’t require it. The department toughened the policy after Damond’s death to require that the cameras be turned on when responding to a call.
Damond was white. Noor, 33, is a Somali American whose hiring two years before the shooting was celebrated by Minneapolis leaders as a sign of a diversifying police force in a city with a large population of Somali immigrants.
Noor testified earlier Thursday about immigrating from Somalia to the U.S., where he became a citizen in 1999. He lived first in Chicago, then moved to Minneapolis, where he said he fell in love with the city.
He said he became a police officer because he “wanted to serve.”
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/ex...-called-911-testifies-he-fired-to-stop-threat
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
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Minneapolis cop convicted of murder in shooting of 911 caller
Associated Press
Published:
April 30, 2019
Updated:
April 30, 2019 10:39 PM EDT
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer was convicted of third-degree murder Tuesday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed woman who approached his squad car minutes after calling 911 to report a possible rape behind her home, a rare instance of an officer being convicted after asserting he fired in a life-or-death situation.
Mohamed Noor was also found guilty of manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond , a 40-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia whose death bewildered and angered people in both countries.
Noor, a two-year veteran who had said he felt “called to serve” as a police officer and shifted from a career in business, was acquitted of the most serious charge of intentional second-degree murder. But he still faces a presumptive sentence of up to 17 years on the two convictions.
Noor was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately despite his attorney’s request that he be free on bond pending sentencing June 7. He showed no visible emotion and did not look back at his family, but his wife was crying.
Members of Damond’s family, also in the courtroom, showed no evident emotion.
Besides the tragic circumstances of the shooting, the case also carried elements of race and immigration. Damond, 40, was white; Noor, 33, is among the many Somali immigrants who settled in Minnesota after coming to America due to civil war in his home country.
Jurors deliberated about five hours Monday and 6 1/2 on Tuesday before reaching a decision.
Minnesota’s third-degree murder charge means causing the death of another through a dangerous act “without regard for human life but without intent to cause” death. The presumptive sentence is about 12 1/2 years. Second-degree manslaughter, defined as creating unreasonable risk of causing death or great bodily harm to another through culpable negligence, has a presumptive sentence of about 4 1/2 years.
Noor and his partner were rolling down the alley behind Damond’s home and checking out the 911 call just before the shooting. Noor testified that a loud bang on the squad car scared his partner and that he saw a woman raising her arm appear at his partner’s window. He said he fired to protect his partner’s life.
Prosecutors attacked Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Damond’s hands. They also questioned whether the loud bang was real. Neither Noor nor his partner, Matthew Harrity, mentioned it to investigators at the scene, with Harrity first mentioning it three days later in an interview with state investigators. Noor refused to talk to investigators.
Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor walks out of the the Hennepin County Government Center Thursday, April 25, 2019, in Minneapolis. Brian Peterson / AP
The death of Damond, a life coach who was engaged to be married a month after the shooting, sparked outrage in both the U.S. and Australia. It also cost Minneapolis’ police chief her job and contributed to the electoral defeat of the city’s mayor a few months later.
Noor became a police officer with a mid-career switch from jobs in the business world. He testified that he became a police officer because he “wanted to serve,” and his hiring two years before the shooting was celebrated by Minneapolis leaders eager for a more diversified police force in a city with a large population of Somali immigrants.
He was fired after being charged.
Neither officer had a body camera running when Damond was shot, something Harrity blamed on what he called a vague policy that didn’t require it. Both men switched on their cameras in time to capture the aftermath, which included their attempts to save Damond with CPR. But Noor’s bullet hit her in a key abdominal artery, and a medical examiner testified she lost so much blood so quickly that even faster medical care might not have saved her.
Prosecutors sought to raise questions about the way police and state investigators handled the aftermath.
They played excerpts from body cameras worn by responding officers that revealed many officers turning them on and off at will; one officer could be heard on his camera at one point telling Noor to “keep your mouth shut until you have to say anything to anybody.” They also highlighted the lack of forensic evidence proving Damond touched the squad car.
But the case still came down to jurors’ assessment of whether Noor was justified in shooting, and they had only the officers’ testimony for a picture of the key moments. During his closing argument Monday, defence attorney Thomas Plunkett told jurors all that mattered was the “precise moment” in which Noor fired his gun and that they needed to consider whether Noor acted as a reasonable officer would act in the same circumstances.
Prosecutor Amy Sweasy argued the shooting was not justified.
In his only public statement about the shooting, Noor testified that after he heard the loud noise, he saw fear in Harrity’s eyes and heard his partner yell, “Oh Jesus!” as he went for his weapon. Noor said Harrity was having difficulty pulling his gun from his holster.
Noor said he then saw a woman in a pink shirt with blond hair appear at Harrity’s window and raise her right arm.
“I fired one shot,” he said, later adding: “My intent was to stop the threat and save my partner’s life.”
Harrity was pressed by prosecutors about why he didn’t fire. He said he hadn’t evaluated whether there was a threat by the time Noor fired. When Sweasy asked Harrity whether it would have been premature for him to use deadly force, he said: “Yes, with what I had.”
Both officers testified of their trust and high regard for each other. Both cried at points during their testimony.
The jury included 10 men and two women. Six of the jurors, including the two women, are people of colour.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/minneapolis-cop-convicted-of-murder-in-shooting-of-911-caller
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,667
3,002
113
Family of 911 caller killed by cop to get $20 million settlement
Associated Press
Published:
May 3, 2019
Updated:
May 3, 2019 6:30 PM EDT
In this Friday, April 26, 2019, file photo, former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor walks to court in Minneapolis. Leila Navidi / AP
Minneapolis will pay $20 million to the family of an unarmed woman shot by a police officer after she called 911 to report a possible crime, city leaders announced Friday — a move that comes just three days after the former officer was convicted of murder.
The settlement reached with the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, is believed to be the largest stemming from police violence in the state of Minnesota. It’s believed that Mohamed Noor is the first Minnesota officer to be convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting.
Asked about the amount and speed of the settlement, Mayor Jacob Frey cited Noor’s unprecedented conviction, as well as the officer’s failure to identify a threat before he used deadly force.
“This is not a victory for anyone, but rather a way for our city to move forward,” he said. “I do believe that we will move forward together, united in the shared belief that such a tragedy should never occur in our city.”
Bob Bennett, an attorney for Damond’s family in Australia, called the settlement amount “transformational” and said it “serves as a marker for future transgressions.”
Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, had called 911 late on the night of July 15, 2017, to summon officers to a possible rape in the alley behind her house. Noor and his partner were driving down the alley in a police SUV when they say they were startled by a loud bang on the vehicle. Noor testified that he fired to protect them from a perceived threat, after he saw his partner’s terrified reaction, and saw a woman appear at the driver’s side window, raising her right arm.
Bennett said Noor’s own testimony appeared to doom any defence of a civil claim.
“He didn’t see a threat,” Bennett said.
Jurors on Tuesday found Noor guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. They deliberated for about 11 1/2 hours after hearing three weeks of testimony.
Damond’s family had filed a lawsuit against the city and police leaders seeking more than $50 million, alleging her civil rights were violated.
The settlement, which will be paid by the city’s self-insurance fund, calls for Damond’s family to donate $2 million to a local foundation’s fund aimed at addressing gun violence. City leaders commended the family for addressing the broader issue of police violence, particularly affecting communities of colour.
The settlement still needs a judge’s approval, but Bennett said he anticipates that will happen.
The death of Damond, 40, came a month before she was due to marry. Noor, 33, who had trained to become a police officer in a mid-career switch, was fired after he was charged.
He is in custody awaiting sentencing in June. Sentencing guidelines call for as many as 15 years in prison on the murder charge, though judges can depart from the guidelines.
Prosecutors criticized Noor for shooting without seeing a weapon or Damond’s hands. They also questioned whether the loud bang was real. Neither Noor nor his partner, Matthew Harrity, mentioned it to investigators at the scene, with Harrity first mentioning it three days later in an interview with state investigators. Noor refused to talk to investigators.
Damond’s death angered and bewildered citizens in the U.S. and Australia, and led to the resignation of Minneapolis’ police chief. It also led the department to change its policy on body cameras.
The fatal shooting and verdict were fraught with the issue of race. Damond was white, and Noor is Somali American, leading some in the community to question whether the case was treated the same as police shootings involving black victims.
Frey said he understands frustrations of those who feel that they have been denied justice, but said the circumstances of each civil case is different. Bennett said he doesn’t believe race played a factor in the size or speed of this settlement.
http://torontosun.com/news/crime/family-of-911-caller-killed-by-cop-to-get-20-million-settlement
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
37,070
6
36
Those must be big backpacks. What the hell do they carry in them?
You obviously don't have a teenager.

They carry: Books, big heavy, lots ... laptop ... power supply ... battery backup ... Raspberry Pi ... Alexa ... food ... more food ... a case of power drinks ... phone ... ear buds ... Bluetooth headphones, hoody (no paper or pencils, anymore.

... and girls carry a half metric tonne of girly stuff.
 

White_Unifier

Senate Member
Feb 21, 2017
7,300
2
36
You obviously don't have a teenager.
They carry: Books, big heavy, lots ... laptop ... power supply ... battery backup ... Raspberry Pi ... Alexa ... food ... more food ... a case of power drinks ... phone ... ear buds ... Bluetooth headphones, hoody (no paper or pencils, anymore.
... and girls carry a half metric tonne of girly stuff.

I thought tech was supposed to make people's lives easier.
 

Curious Cdn

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 22, 2015
37,070
6
36
I thought tech was supposed to make people's lives easier.
They're facing a world in which 20% of them will have real jobs, 30% of them will work in the Service Sector subsistance employment and half of the population will be totally excluded from the formal economy. The Middle Class will be a pretty much gone by mid-century and Democracy with it. Our children will be living in a place that is far worse than ours now because tech replaces them, everywhere. There isn't a professional that will not become obsolete.

Tech will not make their lives easier.