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by Picairn » Fri May 14, 2021 4:31 am
Kowani wrote:anyone describing a sample of 1,200 as "small" can instantly be dismissed as not knowing what they're talking about
by Kowani » Fri May 14, 2021 2:46 pm
The Chicago Police Department started a secretive drone program using off-budget cash to pay for the new technology, the Sun-Times has learned.
Details of the police department’s drone program were included in an email sent last summer by Karen Conway, director of police research and development. In the email, Conway told other high-ranking police officials that the department’s counter-terrorism bureau “utilized 1505 funds for a pilot Drone program that operates within the parameters of current laws.”
The drones “have been purchased and the Electronic & Technical Support Unit (Counter-terrorism) is in the process of creating a training to start a pilot. Some of the Drone uses will be for missing persons, crime scene photos, and terrorist related issues,” Conway said in the June 12, 2020, email to former Deputy Supt. Barbara West and Michele Morris, the department’s risk manager. The department’s “1505” fund is made up of forfeiture proceeds — money and other assets seized in connection to criminal investigations. The money isn’t included in the department’s official budget and has reportedly been used in the past to purchase other controversial technology, like Stingrays, which mimic cell towers and send out signals to trick phones into transmitting their locations and other information.
A state law that went into effect in July 2018 requires law enforcement agencies to report seizure and forfeiture information to the Illinois State Police. Over the past two years, the department reported taking in seized or awarded assets valued at an estimated $25.9 million. That haul stems from investigations into alleged drug crimes and money laundering, but the reports don’t give the full scope of the department’s take because details about seized vehicles were redacted.
The reports state that roughly $7.7 million was spent over that period on operating expenses, witness protection, informant fees and controlled drug buys, as well as travel, meals, conferences, training and continuing education. The spending isn’t itemized, but the reports state that operating expenses can cover vehicles, guns and equipment, such as drones.
Conway’s message about the drone program was among a cache of hacked city emails that were leaked online last month by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a transparency nonprofit likened to WikiLeaks. Other emails show the Chicago Fire Department owns drones worth at least $23,000, though a spokesman clarified on Wednesday that it hasn’t yet earned permission to start a drone program.
Asked about the police department’s drone program, a spokesman said it “regularly investigates new technology and strategies.”
“The Department considers every tool available when it comes to maintaining public safety and actively searches for innovative opportunities,” spokesman Don Terry said in a statement without specifically mentioning drones.
“CPD has strict guidelines for all tools and programs to ensure individual privacy, civil rights, civil liberties and other interests are protected,” Terry added. “We also meet with community partners to make certain that all enforcement efforts meet the highest standards and have support among the individuals Chicago police officers are sworn to serve and protect.”
Terry and other spokespeople for the police department and the mayor’s office didn’t respond to specific questions about the emails. Kristen Cabanban, a spokeswoman for Chicago’s Law Department, issued a statement Friday saying city agencies wouldn’t answer questions about the contents of the hacked emails.
Over the course of multiple emails about the drone programs, Susan Lee, the former deputy mayor of public safety, twice noted there were concerns over the expected response from privacy advocates. However, city employees included in the discussions never independently raised alarms over privacy issues. Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told the Sun-Times the emails show the city “continues to pursue the invasive technologies without any public disclosure, oversight or publicly adopted privacy policies,” undercutting Terry’s claims.
“We should not be surprised. This behavior goes back more than two decades when Chicago first began to place surveillance cameras all across the city,” Yohnka said. “To this day, residents of the city have never seen a privacy policy for the use of those cameras.”
In 2018, the ACLU accused former Mayor Rahm Emanuel of being the heavy hand behind legislation in Springfield that would have allowed police officers to use drones equipped with facial recognition technology to monitor protests. Versions of the legislation passed both the state house and senate but a final bill was never signed into law.
“Given that the city not so long ago sought legislation to permit using drones to surveil public gatherings, including those engaged in First Amendment activity, it is worth questioning its motivations,” Yohnka said of the new revelation. [...] Conway’s comments about the police department’s drone program were included in an email discussing a new vehicle pursuit policy.
The memo also included other technology options the department was considering to apparently minimize the risk of engaging in chases: a device to shut down a fleeing vehicle’s engine and a system for remote tracking. The latter option, StarChase, is a mechanism that allows cops to shoot a GPS-equipped dart at a suspect’s car.
Last August, the police department issued revised directives on pursuits, but the general order bears no mention of the technologies.
An email sent on Aug. 16, 2019 by Tamika Puckett, the city’s former chief risk officer, presented drones as a potentially cheaper alternative to StarChase.
“StarChase might be too costly of an option for our needs. If so, then we should research the drone issue, especially the city ordinance and what changes need to be made to it in order to even consider this an option,” Puckett wrote to Morris and other staffers.
Chicago’s drone ordinance is highly restrictive, though law enforcement agencies operating in the city are afforded an exception to its prohibitions if their drone use complies with state law. That law allows police to use drones for a variety of purposes, namely countering terrorism, searching for missing persons, photographing crime scenes and even pursuing crime suspects.
While the conversations about drones apparently happened in fits and starts, the high-level correspondence stretched on for months. Many of the emails related to the city’s need to purchase drone insurance.
In an email chain on that topic dated March 5, 2020, Lee expressed her intention to hold a meeting “because all three public safety agencies want drones.” Although her email doesn’t name the agencies, later emails show the police and fire departments ultimately obtained drones. It’s unclear whether the Office of Emergency Management and Control also purchased drones.
by Bear Stearns » Fri May 14, 2021 2:54 pm
by Conservative Republic Of Huang » Fri May 14, 2021 3:53 pm
by Postauthoritarian America » Fri May 14, 2021 4:47 pm
Austreylia wrote:Vassenor wrote:
So what does the evidence say about what did happen?
The evidence shows that a bunch of women and children died because feds started attacking a building.
You'll have no issue with this, but will start hysterically shrieking when feds start arresting people who have taken part in riots.
by Kowani » Fri May 14, 2021 6:59 pm
Last week, a coalition of exoneration organizations formally asked city prosecutors to purge hundreds of convictions based on the work of 22 NYPD officers convicted for lying, corruption, and other forms of misconduct. The advocates’ demand followed announcements from Brooklyn and Manhattan prosecutors that they were moving to dismiss nearly two hundred convictions tied to Joseph Franco, a single narcotics detective who was indicted for perjury in 2019.
Several of those 22 officers with criminal histories previously worked in Manhattan. But since the incumbent district attorney there, Cyrus Vance, is stepping down, the fate of those contested convictions will almost certainly be decided by one of the Democratic candidates running to replace him. In response to a questionnaire about this issue from the exoneration coalition, most of the eight candidates—nearly all of whom claim to be “progressive”—agreed.
Six—Tahanie Aboushi, Alvin Bragg, Diana Florence, Lucy Lang, Eliza Orlins, and Dan Quart—signed on to a letter agreeing to the coalition’s demands, which included the dismissal of any convictions in which the flagged officers played an “essential role” and a full review of all previous cases involving officers whose credibility have been called into question by judges and prosecutors. The pledge also sought commitments from candidates that they will vacate convictions in the future “whenever an NYPD officer is convicted of crimes relating to their duties.”
“Under my administration, there will be no role for the testimony of police officers who have shown that their word can’t be trusted,” said Lang, a former Manhattan prosecutor, explaining her decision to sign the commitment letter.
Quart, a Manhattan State Assembly Member, echoed a similar sentiment in an email. “We cannot achieve safety for all Manhattanites without trust in the system and that includes holding officers who lie accountable, fully reviewing the cases they participated in and getting justice for people wrongfully convicted,” he said.
Two candidates did not sign the demand letter, which came from the Legal Aid Society, the Exoneration Project, and several other wrongful conviction organizations.
Liz Crotty, a former Manhattan prosecutor who has positioned herself as the moderate in the race, said that she would opt for in-depth convictions reviews of cases involving officers convicted for misconduct on duty, rather than “automatic” exonerations.
“The vast majority of police officers do a very difficult job very well,” Crotty said, noting that district attorneys need to work with law enforcement and demonstrate concern for crime victims, who have a right to expect that cases be prosecuted fairly and effectively. “Each case is unique, and it is the district attorney’s job to look at the facts and the law as it applies to each case,” she added.
Tali Farhadian Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor, also did not sign the pledge, but voiced support for many parts of it. In a statement, she would “proceed” with the “presumption” of dismissal for convictions in which officers who committed egregious acts played an essential role.
But in a separate response to the exoneration organizations, Farhadian Weinstein also suggested that as DA she would need to be realistic about issues of resource allocation.
“I am also mindful that the existing Conviction Integrity Unit in the office—which I intend to change and rebuild significantly—may have a backlog requiring a system for dedicating resources to the most compelling and urgent cases of innocence and wrongful conviction first,” she said.
Of the six candidates who agreed to all of the coalition’s demands, two also promised to revamp or build new units dedicated to address wrongful convictions.
“Public trust is not just an abstract concept, the health and safety of a community is inextricably tied to public trust in the systems and institutions charged with serving them and the perceived legitimacy of those institutions,” said Bragg, a former federal prosecutor. “On Day 1, we will create a new unit called ‘Free the Wrongly Convicted’ to look at cases like this and help build public trust."
“As DA, I wouldn't just focus on holding the police accountable but also the prosecutors who commit any crimes or misconduct,” said Aboushi, a civil rights attorney. “I would establish an independent Prosecutor Accountability Unit that would investigate prosecutors in our office to guard against misconduct and ethical violations.”
Voting in the Democratic primary for the DA’s race begins on June 12th.
by Kowani » Tue May 18, 2021 5:53 pm
A summons was issued last week for a judge in Fayetteville, North Carolina, requesting he appear in court in his own county on an assault with a deadly weapon charge after he was allegedly caught on camera almost striking Black Lives Matters protesters with his SUV earlier this month. Judge John M. Tyson will be served with summons to appear in Cumberland County court after one of the protesters, Myah Warren, said she was nearly run over by the judge in his state-owned SUV while protesting. From the Fayetteville Observer:
Warren said a detective from the Fayetteville Police Department contacted her Thursday about an investigation into the incident during the protest. The detective told her the investigation was over, and that after reviewing video footage taken of the Market House area she had a reason to seek the charges.
A Fayetteville Police Department spokesman said earlier this week that an incident regarding a pedestrian almost being hit was assigned to an aggravated assault detective.
Warren said in an earlier interview that she and another protester had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by a vehicle she said was driven by Tyson.
Mario Benavente, who was one of the protesters, has said he saw two other protesters nearly get hit by an SUV. He said he recognized Tyson as the driver of the vehicle.
At the time of the incident someone called 911 and told the dispatcher that protesters were blocking the street and surrounding his vehicle. While the Observer does not name the 911 caller, a Washington Post report says it was Tyson who made the call. Either way, a 12-minute video of the incident posted by the Post and provided by the city does not show Tyson’s vehicle surrounded by angry protesters. What it does show is Tyson’s vehicle actually looping back around to the protests after an initial pass and driving in a lane closed to traffic and allegedly attempting to plow into protesters:
The city released a 12-minute video of the incident Friday, which shows the SUV that Tyson allegedly drove cruising along the downtown area. Almost 10 minutes later, the same vehicle is seen driving in a closed-to-traffic inner lane painted “Black Lives Do Matter.” The vehicle made a quick stop in the lane before getting back in open traffic lanes.
It’s unclear how close the SUV was to Warren or other protesters.
Warren alleges that Tyson drove around the area once in his state-owned vehicle when no one was in his way. The second time, she said, he sped up and tried to hit the group but he ended up jumping the curb.
Dispatch calls obtained by the Observer revealed that Tyson called to report that there were people in the street blocking traffic and that they were coming around his car. Video released by the city doesn’t show protesters gathering near Tyson’s vehicle.
I mean, who are you going to believe? The word of a judge, who rejected race as a motivation in a senseless shooting of a Black man by a white man in 2016, or your own eyes?
Warren gave a statement to a magistrate after the incident and was told she couldn’t press charges. That changed after police reviewed the video. Other participants at the weekly demonstration, which drew 15 people, corroborated her story, with one even saying he recognized the judge behind the wheel. Lawyers for Tyson are not commenting on the case at this time.
by Borderlands of Rojava » Tue May 18, 2021 6:49 pm
Kowani wrote:North Carolina judge charged with assault with a deadly weapon for attempting to ram Black Lives Matter protesters with his carA summons was issued last week for a judge in Fayetteville, North Carolina, requesting he appear in court in his own county on an assault with a deadly weapon charge after he was allegedly caught on camera almost striking Black Lives Matters protesters with his SUV earlier this month. Judge John M. Tyson will be served with summons to appear in Cumberland County court after one of the protesters, Myah Warren, said she was nearly run over by the judge in his state-owned SUV while protesting. From the Fayetteville Observer:
Warren said a detective from the Fayetteville Police Department contacted her Thursday about an investigation into the incident during the protest. The detective told her the investigation was over, and that after reviewing video footage taken of the Market House area she had a reason to seek the charges.
A Fayetteville Police Department spokesman said earlier this week that an incident regarding a pedestrian almost being hit was assigned to an aggravated assault detective.
Warren said in an earlier interview that she and another protester had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by a vehicle she said was driven by Tyson.
Mario Benavente, who was one of the protesters, has said he saw two other protesters nearly get hit by an SUV. He said he recognized Tyson as the driver of the vehicle.
At the time of the incident someone called 911 and told the dispatcher that protesters were blocking the street and surrounding his vehicle. While the Observer does not name the 911 caller, a Washington Post report says it was Tyson who made the call. Either way, a 12-minute video of the incident posted by the Post and provided by the city does not show Tyson’s vehicle surrounded by angry protesters. What it does show is Tyson’s vehicle actually looping back around to the protests after an initial pass and driving in a lane closed to traffic and allegedly attempting to plow into protesters:
The city released a 12-minute video of the incident Friday, which shows the SUV that Tyson allegedly drove cruising along the downtown area. Almost 10 minutes later, the same vehicle is seen driving in a closed-to-traffic inner lane painted “Black Lives Do Matter.” The vehicle made a quick stop in the lane before getting back in open traffic lanes.
It’s unclear how close the SUV was to Warren or other protesters.
Warren alleges that Tyson drove around the area once in his state-owned vehicle when no one was in his way. The second time, she said, he sped up and tried to hit the group but he ended up jumping the curb.
Dispatch calls obtained by the Observer revealed that Tyson called to report that there were people in the street blocking traffic and that they were coming around his car. Video released by the city doesn’t show protesters gathering near Tyson’s vehicle.
I mean, who are you going to believe? The word of a judge, who rejected race as a motivation in a senseless shooting of a Black man by a white man in 2016, or your own eyes?
Warren gave a statement to a magistrate after the incident and was told she couldn’t press charges. That changed after police reviewed the video. Other participants at the weekly demonstration, which drew 15 people, corroborated her story, with one even saying he recognized the judge behind the wheel. Lawyers for Tyson are not commenting on the case at this time.
by North Washington Republic » Tue May 18, 2021 8:23 pm
Kowani wrote:North Carolina judge charged with assault with a deadly weapon for attempting to ram Black Lives Matter protesters with his carA summons was issued last week for a judge in Fayetteville, North Carolina, requesting he appear in court in his own county on an assault with a deadly weapon charge after he was allegedly caught on camera almost striking Black Lives Matters protesters with his SUV earlier this month. Judge John M. Tyson will be served with summons to appear in Cumberland County court after one of the protesters, Myah Warren, said she was nearly run over by the judge in his state-owned SUV while protesting. From the Fayetteville Observer:
Warren said a detective from the Fayetteville Police Department contacted her Thursday about an investigation into the incident during the protest. The detective told her the investigation was over, and that after reviewing video footage taken of the Market House area she had a reason to seek the charges.
A Fayetteville Police Department spokesman said earlier this week that an incident regarding a pedestrian almost being hit was assigned to an aggravated assault detective.
Warren said in an earlier interview that she and another protester had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by a vehicle she said was driven by Tyson.
Mario Benavente, who was one of the protesters, has said he saw two other protesters nearly get hit by an SUV. He said he recognized Tyson as the driver of the vehicle.
At the time of the incident someone called 911 and told the dispatcher that protesters were blocking the street and surrounding his vehicle. While the Observer does not name the 911 caller, a Washington Post report says it was Tyson who made the call. Either way, a 12-minute video of the incident posted by the Post and provided by the city does not show Tyson’s vehicle surrounded by angry protesters. What it does show is Tyson’s vehicle actually looping back around to the protests after an initial pass and driving in a lane closed to traffic and allegedly attempting to plow into protesters:
The city released a 12-minute video of the incident Friday, which shows the SUV that Tyson allegedly drove cruising along the downtown area. Almost 10 minutes later, the same vehicle is seen driving in a closed-to-traffic inner lane painted “Black Lives Do Matter.” The vehicle made a quick stop in the lane before getting back in open traffic lanes.
It’s unclear how close the SUV was to Warren or other protesters.
Warren alleges that Tyson drove around the area once in his state-owned vehicle when no one was in his way. The second time, she said, he sped up and tried to hit the group but he ended up jumping the curb.
Dispatch calls obtained by the Observer revealed that Tyson called to report that there were people in the street blocking traffic and that they were coming around his car. Video released by the city doesn’t show protesters gathering near Tyson’s vehicle.
I mean, who are you going to believe? The word of a judge, who rejected race as a motivation in a senseless shooting of a Black man by a white man in 2016, or your own eyes?
Warren gave a statement to a magistrate after the incident and was told she couldn’t press charges. That changed after police reviewed the video. Other participants at the weekly demonstration, which drew 15 people, corroborated her story, with one even saying he recognized the judge behind the wheel. Lawyers for Tyson are not commenting on the case at this time.
by Kowani » Wed May 19, 2021 1:15 pm
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed one of the nation’s most ambitious packages of police accountability legislation, prompted by last year’s outcry for racial justice following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people at the hands of police.
The dozen bills Inslee signed include outright bans on police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants such as the one that helped lead to Taylor's killing in Louisville, Kentucky.
They require officers to intervene if their colleagues engage in excessive force — a demand inspired by the officers who stood by while then-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee to Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes.
The bills also create an independent office to review the use of deadly force by police, make it easier to decertify police for bad acts, and require officers to use “reasonable care,” including exhausting de-escalation tactics, in carrying out their duties. The use of tear gas and car chases are restricted and it's easier to sue officers when they inflict injury.
“As of noon today, we will have the best, most comprehensive, most transparent, most effective police accountability laws in the United States,” Inslee, a Democrat, said before signing the bills. [...] Inslee convened a task force last year to suggest ways to guarantee independent investigations of police use of deadly force. The move followed community outrage over the death of Manuel Ellis as he was being restrained by Tacoma police and repeatedly saying he couldn't breathe. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office conducted a botched review of the case without disclosing that one of its deputies had been involved.
Prompted partly by Ellis' death, Inslee signed the bills at a community center in Tacoma.
Under legislation recommended by the task force, the state will have an independent office that will hire regional teams to review such cases. There are restrictions on hiring police or former police officers as investigators, and eventually the investigations will be conducted by civilians with other areas of expertise — such as behavioral health.
by Postauthoritarian America » Wed May 19, 2021 6:39 pm
by Kowani » Thu May 20, 2021 10:02 am
Louisiana state troopers were captured on body camera video stunning, punching and dragging a Black man as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase — footage of the man's last moments alive that The Associated Press obtained after authorities refused to release it for two years.
"I'm your brother! I'm scared! I'm scared!" Ronald Greene can be heard telling the white troopers as the unarmed man is jolted repeatedly with a stun gun before he even gets out of his car along a dark, rural road.
The 2019 arrest outside Monroe, Louisiana, is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. But unlike other in-custody deaths across the nation where body camera video was released almost immediately, Greene's case has been shrouded in secrecy and accusations of a cover-up.
Louisiana officials have rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused the 49-year-old's death. Troopers initially told Greene's family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. Later, State Police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital. Only now in the footage obtained by the AP from one trooper's body camera can the public see for the first time some of what happened during the arrest. The 46-minute clip shows one trooper wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a "stupid motherf---—."
Greene wails "I'm sorry!" as another trooper delivers another stun gun shock to his backside and warns, "Look, you're going to get it again if you don't put your f---—- hands behind your back!" Another trooper can be seen briefly dragging the man facedown after his legs had been shackled and his hands cuffed behind him.
Instead of rendering aid, the troopers leave the heavyset man unattended, facedown and moaning for more than nine minutes, as they use sanitizer wipes to wash blood off their hands and faces.
"I hope this guy ain't got f------ AIDS," one of the troopers can be heard saying.
After a several-minute stretch in which Greene is not seen on camera, he appears again, limp, unresponsive and bleeding from his head and face. He is then loaded onto an ambulance gurney, his arm cuffed to the bedrail.
In many parts of the video, Greene is not on screen, and the trooper appears to cut the microphone off about halfway through, making it difficult to piece together exactly what was happening at all times. At least six troopers were on the scene of the arrest but not all had their body cameras on.
"They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned," Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, said Wednesday. "He didn't have a chance. Ronnie didn't have a chance. He wasn't going to live to tell about it."
An attorney for Greene's family, Lee Merritt, said the footage "has some of the same hallmarks of the George Floyd video, the length of it, the sheer brutality of it."
"He apologized in an attempt to surrender," Merritt said.
Louisiana State Police declined to comment on the contents of the video. In a statement, the agency said the "premature public release of investigative files and video evidence in this case is not authorized and ... undermines the investigative process and compromises the fair and impartial outcome."
State Police brass initially argued the troopers' use of force was justified — "awful but lawful," as ranking officials described it — and did not open an administrative investigation until 474 days after Greene's death.
"Police departments have got to stop putting roadblocks up to information that is, in the public's eye, questionable. They have to reveal all that they know, when they know it," said Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Florida, police chief who testifies as an expert witness in use-of-force cases. "It suggests that you're hiding something."
While noting Greene "was not without fault" and appeared to resist the troopers' orders, Scott said dragging the handcuffed man facedown by his ankle shackles was "malicious, sadistic, completely unnecessary."
"That should never have never happened," he said. "You've got the guy completely compromised. He's not hurting anybody."
Charles Key, another use-of-force expert and former Baltimore police lieutenant, questioned the troopers' decision to leave Greene unattended, handcuffed and prone for several minutes, calling the practice "just dead wrong."
"You don't leave somebody lying on the ground, particularly after you've had this fight," Key said. "The training has been for a number of years that, as soon as you get someone under control, you put them on their side to facilitate their breathing ... and particularly this guy, because he was very heavy."
Gov. John Bel Edwards allowed Greene's family to view the same body camera footage last year and pledged to release it to the public after the federal investigation runs its course.
Greene's family has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleging troopers "brutalized" Greene, and "left him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest" before covering up the cause of death. His family has released graphic photographs of Greene's body on a gurney, showing deep bruises and cuts on his face and head.
Greene, a barber, failed to pull over for an unspecified traffic violation shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, about 30 miles south of the Arkansas state line. That's where the video obtained by AP begins, with Trooper Dakota DeMoss chasing Greene's SUV on rural highways at over 115 mph.
Seconds before the chase ended, DeMoss warned on his radio: "We got to do something. He's going to kill somebody."
As DeMoss and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth rush Greene's SUV, he can be seen appearing to raise his hands and saying over and over, "OK, OK. I'm sorry."
Hollingsworth shocks Greene with a stun gun within seconds through the driver's side window as both troopers demand he get out of the vehicle.
Greene exits through the passenger side as the troopers wrestle him to the ground. One trooper can be heard saying "He's grabbing me" as they try to handcuff him. "Put your hands behind your back, bitch," one trooper says.
Hollingsworth strikes Greene multiple times and appears to lie on one of his arms before he is finally handcuffed.
At one point, Trooper Kory York yanks Greene's leg shackles and briefly drags the man on his stomach even though he isn't resisting.
York was suspended without pay for 50 hours for the dragging and for improperly deactivating his body camera. York told investigators the device was beeping loudly and his "mind was on other things."
Hollingsworth, in a separate recording obtained by AP, can be heard telling a colleague at the office that "he beat the ever-living f--- out of" Greene.
"Choked him and everything else trying to get him under control," Hollingsworth is heard saying. "He was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp."
Hollingsworth later died in a single-vehicle highway crash that happened hours after he learned he would be fired for his role in the Greene case.
DeMoss, meanwhile, was arrested in connection with a separate police pursuit last year in which he and two other troopers allegedly used excessive force while handcuffing a motorist.
Exactly what caused Greene's death remains unclear. Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith told AP last year his death was ruled accidental and attributed to cardiac arrest. Smith, who was not in office when that determination was made, said her office's file on Greene attributed his death to a car crash and made no mention of a struggle with State Police.
The AP last year also obtained a medical report showing an emergency room doctor noted Greene arrived dead at the hospital, bruised and bloodied with two stun-gun prongs in his back. That led the doctor to question troopers' initial account that Greene had "died on impact" after crashing into a tree.
"Does not add up," the doctor wrote.
by Neutraligon » Thu May 20, 2021 10:14 am
Kowani wrote:Bodycam video which authorities withheld for 2 years shows Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching and dragging Ronald Greene facedown on the ground before he died. Troopers initially told his family he died on impact after crashing into a tree.Louisiana state troopers were captured on body camera video stunning, punching and dragging a Black man as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase — footage of the man's last moments alive that The Associated Press obtained after authorities refused to release it for two years.
"I'm your brother! I'm scared! I'm scared!" Ronald Greene can be heard telling the white troopers as the unarmed man is jolted repeatedly with a stun gun before he even gets out of his car along a dark, rural road.
The 2019 arrest outside Monroe, Louisiana, is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. But unlike other in-custody deaths across the nation where body camera video was released almost immediately, Greene's case has been shrouded in secrecy and accusations of a cover-up.
Louisiana officials have rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused the 49-year-old's death. Troopers initially told Greene's family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. Later, State Police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital. Only now in the footage obtained by the AP from one trooper's body camera can the public see for the first time some of what happened during the arrest. The 46-minute clip shows one trooper wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a "stupid motherf---—."
Greene wails "I'm sorry!" as another trooper delivers another stun gun shock to his backside and warns, "Look, you're going to get it again if you don't put your f---—- hands behind your back!" Another trooper can be seen briefly dragging the man facedown after his legs had been shackled and his hands cuffed behind him.
Instead of rendering aid, the troopers leave the heavyset man unattended, facedown and moaning for more than nine minutes, as they use sanitizer wipes to wash blood off their hands and faces.
"I hope this guy ain't got f------ AIDS," one of the troopers can be heard saying.
After a several-minute stretch in which Greene is not seen on camera, he appears again, limp, unresponsive and bleeding from his head and face. He is then loaded onto an ambulance gurney, his arm cuffed to the bedrail.
In many parts of the video, Greene is not on screen, and the trooper appears to cut the microphone off about halfway through, making it difficult to piece together exactly what was happening at all times. At least six troopers were on the scene of the arrest but not all had their body cameras on.
"They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned," Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, said Wednesday. "He didn't have a chance. Ronnie didn't have a chance. He wasn't going to live to tell about it."
An attorney for Greene's family, Lee Merritt, said the footage "has some of the same hallmarks of the George Floyd video, the length of it, the sheer brutality of it."
"He apologized in an attempt to surrender," Merritt said.
Louisiana State Police declined to comment on the contents of the video. In a statement, the agency said the "premature public release of investigative files and video evidence in this case is not authorized and ... undermines the investigative process and compromises the fair and impartial outcome."
State Police brass initially argued the troopers' use of force was justified — "awful but lawful," as ranking officials described it — and did not open an administrative investigation until 474 days after Greene's death.
"Police departments have got to stop putting roadblocks up to information that is, in the public's eye, questionable. They have to reveal all that they know, when they know it," said Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Florida, police chief who testifies as an expert witness in use-of-force cases. "It suggests that you're hiding something."
While noting Greene "was not without fault" and appeared to resist the troopers' orders, Scott said dragging the handcuffed man facedown by his ankle shackles was "malicious, sadistic, completely unnecessary."
"That should never have never happened," he said. "You've got the guy completely compromised. He's not hurting anybody."
Charles Key, another use-of-force expert and former Baltimore police lieutenant, questioned the troopers' decision to leave Greene unattended, handcuffed and prone for several minutes, calling the practice "just dead wrong."
"You don't leave somebody lying on the ground, particularly after you've had this fight," Key said. "The training has been for a number of years that, as soon as you get someone under control, you put them on their side to facilitate their breathing ... and particularly this guy, because he was very heavy."
Gov. John Bel Edwards allowed Greene's family to view the same body camera footage last year and pledged to release it to the public after the federal investigation runs its course.
Greene's family has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleging troopers "brutalized" Greene, and "left him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest" before covering up the cause of death. His family has released graphic photographs of Greene's body on a gurney, showing deep bruises and cuts on his face and head.
Greene, a barber, failed to pull over for an unspecified traffic violation shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, about 30 miles south of the Arkansas state line. That's where the video obtained by AP begins, with Trooper Dakota DeMoss chasing Greene's SUV on rural highways at over 115 mph.
Seconds before the chase ended, DeMoss warned on his radio: "We got to do something. He's going to kill somebody."
As DeMoss and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth rush Greene's SUV, he can be seen appearing to raise his hands and saying over and over, "OK, OK. I'm sorry."
Hollingsworth shocks Greene with a stun gun within seconds through the driver's side window as both troopers demand he get out of the vehicle.
Greene exits through the passenger side as the troopers wrestle him to the ground. One trooper can be heard saying "He's grabbing me" as they try to handcuff him. "Put your hands behind your back, bitch," one trooper says.
Hollingsworth strikes Greene multiple times and appears to lie on one of his arms before he is finally handcuffed.
At one point, Trooper Kory York yanks Greene's leg shackles and briefly drags the man on his stomach even though he isn't resisting.
York was suspended without pay for 50 hours for the dragging and for improperly deactivating his body camera. York told investigators the device was beeping loudly and his "mind was on other things."
Hollingsworth, in a separate recording obtained by AP, can be heard telling a colleague at the office that "he beat the ever-living f--- out of" Greene.
"Choked him and everything else trying to get him under control," Hollingsworth is heard saying. "He was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp."
Hollingsworth later died in a single-vehicle highway crash that happened hours after he learned he would be fired for his role in the Greene case.
DeMoss, meanwhile, was arrested in connection with a separate police pursuit last year in which he and two other troopers allegedly used excessive force while handcuffing a motorist.
Exactly what caused Greene's death remains unclear. Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith told AP last year his death was ruled accidental and attributed to cardiac arrest. Smith, who was not in office when that determination was made, said her office's file on Greene attributed his death to a car crash and made no mention of a struggle with State Police.
The AP last year also obtained a medical report showing an emergency room doctor noted Greene arrived dead at the hospital, bruised and bloodied with two stun-gun prongs in his back. That led the doctor to question troopers' initial account that Greene had "died on impact" after crashing into a tree.
"Does not add up," the doctor wrote.
by North Washington Republic » Thu May 20, 2021 2:01 pm
Postauthoritarian America wrote:Minnesota communities paid community organizations to keep peace between protesters, cops
And it worked. Time to defund the police.
by Ifreann » Thu May 20, 2021 2:43 pm
North Washington Republic wrote:Postauthoritarian America wrote:Minnesota communities paid community organizations to keep peace between protesters, cops
And it worked. Time to defund the police.
Yeah. No. Not while 6 year olds are dying from drive by shootings.
by North Washington Republic » Thu May 20, 2021 5:50 pm
by Page » Thu May 20, 2021 10:32 pm
North Washington Republic wrote:Ifreann wrote:What are the cops going to do about that? Shoot kids themselves?
And that type of “ACAB” bullshit is why Minneapolis is experiencing a violent crime wave. The people that actually live in some of the most violent parts of the city want larger police presence. The anarchist utopia of a policeless city has failed.
The Minneapolis Mayor and the MPD chief of police really are working to implement necessary and reasonable reforms to the department. We have a federal investigation from the department of justice of the MPD, which I strongly support. However, the abolitionist rhetoric of our city Council and people that don’t even live in the city is contributed to the rise in violent crime.
by Kowani » Fri May 21, 2021 1:00 am
He repeatedly told deputies he could not breathe.
But the deputies and police officers he struggled with taunted him until he died.
An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation is raising questions about the death of William Jennette last May inside the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee.
His daughter has filed a lawsuit against the county, the city of Lewisburg and several officers for the "beating, suffocation and resultant death" of Jennette. Video obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates shows three Marshall County jailers called for police back-up on May 6 of last year after Jennette refused to get into a restraint chair.
When Lewisburg Police Officer Christopher Stallings ran into the room, Jennette yelled that corrections officers were trying to kill him.
Officers wrestled Jennette to the floor where he died minutes later.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," said his daughter, Dominique Jennette.
The daughter said her 48-year-old father was terrified and desperately needed help.
"That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt," Jennette said.
Jail logs show Jennette had been "hallucinating" and "detoxing" after being arrested two days earlier for resisting arrest, public intoxication and indecent exposure. Officers had put him in a restraint chair the day before for his own protection because he was hitting his head on the cell wall.
Then, on May 6, officers tried again, and jail cameras show things escalated quickly.
"They should have been more aware. They should have been trained properly and they weren't," Dominique Jennette said.
Much of her lawsuit focuses on what happened after officers wrestled her father to the ground.
Jennette screamed for officers to get off his back. He was face down on the floor in handcuffs continuing to struggle.
"Go get leg restraints before you do anything else, go get leg restraints," an officer said as officers were on Jennette's back.
Seconds later, Jennette said for the first time he could not breathe.
But a female officer was not sympathetic.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid b*****d," she exclaimed.
Officers stayed on Jennette's back and even bent his legs to his back, until finally one officer said be careful of suffocating him.
"Easy, easy -- remember asphyxiation, guys."
Another officer responded, "That's why I'm not on his lungs, to let him breathe."
Jennette's last words were: "I'm good."
But an officer with his knee on Jennette's back talked back to him.
"No, you ain't good. You're going to lay right there for a f*****g minute," the officer said.
We showed the video to law professor and former police officer Seth Stoughton. He's co-written a book, "Evaluating Police Uses of Force."
"That's the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years," Stoughton said.
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side."
He was disturbed by what he saw in the video.
Stoughton said police officers have been trained since the mid-1990s about the dangers of positional asphyxiation -- suffocating someone by putting pressure on their back while they are in what's called the prone position.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable," Stoughton said.
Jennette's daughters remember their dad as a father of five, who drove a cement truck to support them.
He had been arrested before but did not have a long wrap sheet.
"All he wanted was help and all he got was hate. It's not right," said daughter Calli Jennette.
Dominique Jennette added, "There were so many who could have said this wasn't right, and no one said this wasn't right,"
The autopsy listed the cause of death as "acute combined drug intoxication" with meth in his system.
But it also listed "asphyxia" as a "contributory cause of death" and ruled it a homicide.
(full autopsy in the article, but it's 9 pages) "It just feels like my heart is constantly being ripped out of my chest, and there's no peace to that," Dominique Jennette said.
The family hopes other departments learn from what happened to their dad.
"I want to go home, and I can't go home, because he's not there to take me home anymore," Calli Jennette said.
A grand jury looked at this case but decided not to bring criminal charges against the officers.
The sheriff and the attorney for the county in this case did comment on what happened.
by Borderlands of Rojava » Fri May 21, 2021 5:20 am
Kowani wrote:"You shouldn't be able to breathe" Nashville police officer tells man before he dies in jail after 3 officers kneeled on his back for several minutesHe repeatedly told deputies he could not breathe.
But the deputies and police officers he struggled with taunted him until he died.
An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation is raising questions about the death of William Jennette last May inside the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee.
His daughter has filed a lawsuit against the county, the city of Lewisburg and several officers for the "beating, suffocation and resultant death" of Jennette. Video obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates shows three Marshall County jailers called for police back-up on May 6 of last year after Jennette refused to get into a restraint chair.
When Lewisburg Police Officer Christopher Stallings ran into the room, Jennette yelled that corrections officers were trying to kill him.
Officers wrestled Jennette to the floor where he died minutes later.
"That just breaks my heart because he was someone worth knowing," said his daughter, Dominique Jennette.
The daughter said her 48-year-old father was terrified and desperately needed help.
"That's just something that really sticks with me, how scared he must have been and how alone he must have felt," Jennette said.
Jail logs show Jennette had been "hallucinating" and "detoxing" after being arrested two days earlier for resisting arrest, public intoxication and indecent exposure. Officers had put him in a restraint chair the day before for his own protection because he was hitting his head on the cell wall.
Then, on May 6, officers tried again, and jail cameras show things escalated quickly.
"They should have been more aware. They should have been trained properly and they weren't," Dominique Jennette said.
Much of her lawsuit focuses on what happened after officers wrestled her father to the ground.
Jennette screamed for officers to get off his back. He was face down on the floor in handcuffs continuing to struggle.
"Go get leg restraints before you do anything else, go get leg restraints," an officer said as officers were on Jennette's back.
Seconds later, Jennette said for the first time he could not breathe.
But a female officer was not sympathetic.
"You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid b*****d," she exclaimed.
Officers stayed on Jennette's back and even bent his legs to his back, until finally one officer said be careful of suffocating him.
"Easy, easy -- remember asphyxiation, guys."
Another officer responded, "That's why I'm not on his lungs, to let him breathe."
Jennette's last words were: "I'm good."
But an officer with his knee on Jennette's back talked back to him.
"No, you ain't good. You're going to lay right there for a f*****g minute," the officer said.
We showed the video to law professor and former police officer Seth Stoughton. He's co-written a book, "Evaluating Police Uses of Force."
"That's the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years," Stoughton said.
"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side."
He was disturbed by what he saw in the video.
Stoughton said police officers have been trained since the mid-1990s about the dangers of positional asphyxiation -- suffocating someone by putting pressure on their back while they are in what's called the prone position.
"There's approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that's not acceptable," Stoughton said.
Jennette's daughters remember their dad as a father of five, who drove a cement truck to support them.
He had been arrested before but did not have a long wrap sheet.
"All he wanted was help and all he got was hate. It's not right," said daughter Calli Jennette.
Dominique Jennette added, "There were so many who could have said this wasn't right, and no one said this wasn't right,"
The autopsy listed the cause of death as "acute combined drug intoxication" with meth in his system.
But it also listed "asphyxia" as a "contributory cause of death" and ruled it a homicide.
(full autopsy in the article, but it's 9 pages) "It just feels like my heart is constantly being ripped out of my chest, and there's no peace to that," Dominique Jennette said.
The family hopes other departments learn from what happened to their dad.
"I want to go home, and I can't go home, because he's not there to take me home anymore," Calli Jennette said.
A grand jury looked at this case but decided not to bring criminal charges against the officers.
The sheriff and the attorney for the county in this case did comment on what happened.
by Borderlands of Rojava » Fri May 21, 2021 6:54 am
North Washington Republic wrote:Postauthoritarian America wrote:Minnesota communities paid community organizations to keep peace between protesters, cops
And it worked. Time to defund the police.
Yeah. No. Not while 6 year olds are dying from drive by shootings.
by Ifreann » Fri May 21, 2021 6:56 am
Borderlands of Rojava wrote:
Tfw one drive by is proof that peacekeeping doesn't work at all. Forget about looking at trends.
by Borderlands of Rojava » Fri May 21, 2021 6:58 am
by Galloism » Fri May 21, 2021 7:53 am
Borderlands of Rojava wrote:Has anyone here brought up yet that Andrew Yang basically wants to kill the mentally ill? I saw it was posted in the AP thread how Yang thinks policing those with mental health issues is a-okay.
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