The LEO thread

[Vrede too]

nutjobs will be nutjobs. And victims. At any opportunity.

And pigs will be pigs at any opportunity:

'Ready for the pop?': Colorado police officer joked about excessive force used in arrest of elderly woman, video shows



... 73-year-old Karen Garner, who has dementia ...

Her being a Karen is no excuse.

Loveland, Colorado, about 50 miles north of Denver, last year.

No Love in Copland.

... Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder, fractured arm and sprained wrist during her June 26, 2020, arrest, according to the lawsuit....

Hopp arrested Garner in June 2020 after she allegedly left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items. His body camera footage shows Hopp catching up to her as she walks through a field along a road. She shrugs and turns away from him and he quickly grabs her arm and pushes her 80-pound body to the ground. She looks confused and repeatedly says, “I am going home.”

The footage released Monday showed the officers laughing and making comments about Garner's injuries immediately after the arrest.

"about $14 worth of items"

... "Ready for the pop?" Hopp said to Jalali and another officer, identified by attorney Sarah Schielke as officer Tyler Blackett, in the video.

"What did you pop?" Blackett asks. "I think it was her shoulder," Hopp said.

A few moments later, Jalali appears to cover her eyes while Hopp and Blackett continue watching the body camera video.

"I hate this," Jalali said. "This is awesome," Hopp says while laughing. "I love it," Blackett says.

In the footage, Hopp is also heard telling Jalali he thought the arrest "went great" after the two fist bump each other. "I think we crushed it," Hopp tells Jalali as they both appear to be filling out paperwork.

"Did you hear the pop? When I had her pushed against the car when you first got there?" Hopp asks Jalali. "I was like, 'OK, you're gonna play,' and I was pushing, pushing, pushing and I hear (pop sound). I was like, 'Oh no.' "

"That's going to turn into something," Jalali responded.

"I can't believe I threw a 73-year-old woman on the ground," Hopp says at another point in the video.

Schiekle said in a statement that she felt she had to release this video to shed light on "Loveland police's toxic culture of arrogance and entitlement, along with their horrific abuse of the vulnerable and powerless."

The lawsuit alleges Hopp, Jalali and Sgt. Phil Metzler used excessive force when arresting Garner. On Sunday, Schielke said an amended complaint was filed to add Blackett and Sgt. Antolina Hill as defendants, accusing them of failing to intervene or provide medical care to Garner....

Garner was left without medical care for nearly six hours — first in a holding cell at the police department and then at the jail — before jail deputies realized she was injured, according to the lawsuit. Officers reportedly did not tell anyone at the jail that Garner might be injured.

In previously released body camera footage from Hopp, both Hopp and Metzler are seen speaking with a concerned resident who pulled to the side of the road while officers were arresting Garner. The lawsuit alleges Metzler intimidated and bullied the witness and deactivated his body-worn camera during the interaction to cover up the use of excessive force....

:!: :!: :!:

[Vrede too]

Three Colorado police officers no longer employed after arrest of 73-year-old woman with dementia

... Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer said at a press conference Friday that Hopp, Blackett and Jalali "are no longer employed" with the department but declined to specify whether they resigned or were terminated....

The arrest sparked a criminal investigation led by District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin and the Fort Collins Police Services.

McLaughlin said in the statement that he will consider the officers' comments about the arrest, along with other evidence, in making his charging decision.

[Vrede too]

Maggie Valley Inn owners say 'no regrets' after posting divisive sign

MAGGIE VALLEY, N.C. (WLOS) — Two owners from a Maggie Valley Inn are going viral after posting what some are calling a gross message on their kiosk.

"Right now, the kiosk says ACAB, the barrel is rotten," Kitty Currin said.

She and her husband Cody Currin have run the Our Place Inn in Maggie Valley since 2015, but it’s only recent that the inn’s online presence has really exploded.

"Last that I checked, our post had reached 100,000 people,” Kitty Currin said. “So, while it's a little bit of an extreme acronym, I would say it's reached a lot of people a lot faster than anything else we've done.”

The Currins believe it’s the acronym, which stands for all cops are ########, that’s really sparked the response.

"########" = Bastards

"It's basically an acronym that's come up because of years of people suggesting we need police reform, and we've done it politely,” Kitty Currin said.

Which is why they said this type of message was needed.



“I have probably over 200 phone calls in the last 48 hours of every hour of the night,” Cody Currin said.

Some messages they received have even been life-threatening, but the Currins said it was worth it to get the message out there.

“No regrets,” Cody Currin said....

To: OurPlaceInnMV@gmail.com
Subject: Marquee

Thank you for your bravery and service to the community. 1312!

Yours,
(Vrede too)

[Vrede too]

From: Currin Brothers <ourplaceinnmv@gmail.com>
To: (Vrede too)
Date: Tue, May 4 at 9:29 AM

Thanks for your words of support. ❤

[neoplacebo]

From: Currin Brothers <ourplaceinnmv@gmail.com>
To: (Vrede too)
Date: Tue, May 4 at 9:29 AM

Thanks for your words of support. ❤

[Vrede too]

Bastards being bastards:

‘We’re terrorized’: LA sheriffs frequently harass families of people they kill, says report

Los Angeles sheriff deputies frequently harass the families of people they have killed, including taunting them at vigils, parking outside their homes and following them and pulling them over for no reason, according to a new report from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The LA sheriff’s department (LASD), which has faced national scrutiny for its corruption scandals and killings of young Black and Latino men, has routinely retaliated against victims’ relatives who speak out, the groups said in the report released on Tuesday....

[Vrede too]

Federal jury indicts Chauvin, 3 ex-Minneapolis officers in George Floyd death

Four former Minneapolis police officers, including convicted murderer Derek Chauvin, were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges that they violated George Floyd’s constitutional rights when they restrained him on the pavement during the fatal encounter last year, according to court documents.

The indictment unsealed Friday accuses Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao of depriving Floyd of his rights under the law during the arrest on May 25, 2020, that left Floyd dead and touched off a wave of global protests.

It says Chauvin, while aided and abetted by the other three officers, willfully deprived George Floyd of his constitutional right to be “free from an unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.” ...

Derek Chauvin was indicted in the arrest of a 14-year-old whom prosecutors say he knelt on for 17 minutes and hit with a flashlight

A federal grand jury has indicted the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on a civil-rights charge in the 2017 arrest of a 14-year-old boy.

The charge was announced Friday, the same day Chauvin and three other former officers were indicted on additional civil-rights charges in the death of George Floyd.

Federal prosecutors accuse Chauvin of using his authority as an officer to deprive the Black teenager of his constitutionally protected civil rights. Chauvin held his knee to to the teen's upper back and neck for 17 minutes while he lay prone, was handcuffed, and was not resisting, according to the federal indictment.

Details of the 2017 incident came to light last month during Chauvin's murder trial.

In a court filing, the Minnesota state prosecutor Matthew Frank said videos from the arrest show Chauvin striking the teenager in the head and then pinning him to the ground with his knee for nearly 17 minutes, ignoring complaints that the teen couldn't breathe.

Chauvin and another officer had been called to the teen's home after his mother reported that her two children had assaulted her, according to the filing. The officers told the boy, who was lying on the floor, that he was under arrest, and then Chauvin struck him several times with a flashlight before putting him in the prone position.

Chauvin hit the boy with the flashlight, then grabbed his throat and hit him again in the head with it, according to the filing. The teen called out for his mother and for the officers to stop hurting him, the indictment said....

Minneapolis had the video! I'll bet they now wish that they'd fired Chauvin then.

[Vrede too]

Local police shocked after Alabama officer convicted of murdering suicidal man

A jury in Alabama on Friday convicted Huntsville police officer William “Ben” Darby of murder in the fatal shooting of a suicidal man in 2018, AP reported.

Driving the news: Darby killed Jeffrey Parker while responding to a 911 call in which the man said he was armed and planned to kill himself. Parker was aiming a gun to his own head when Darby shot him, per AP.

* The conviction carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Catch up quick: A city police review had previously cleared Darby of wrongdoing and he was allowed to remain a police officer, AP reported.

* Prosecutors argued Darby killed an innocent man without cause. “He called for help and he got Ben Darby," prosecutor Tim Gann said in closing arguments.

* The defense team said that Darby was justified in killing Parker, arguing the man posed a threat to the officers.

What they're saying: Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard welcomed the verdict, saying the “facts bore out there was nothing justified about this encounter.”

* Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle condemned the conviction, saying in a statement: "Fortunately, Officer Darby has the same appeal rights as any other citizen and is entitled to exercise those rights,” per AP.

* Huntsville police chief Mark McMurray said the verdict left local police "in the first stages of shock," according to AP.

* "I do not believe Officer Darby is a murderer," McMurry added. "Officers are forced to make split-second decisions every day, and Officer Darby believed his life and the lives of other officers were in danger."

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Do NOT call the police.

[billy.pilgrim]

Local police shocked after Alabama officer convicted of murdering suicidal man

A jury in Alabama on Friday convicted Huntsville police officer William “Ben” Darby of murder in the fatal shooting of a suicidal man in 2018, AP reported.

Driving the news: Darby killed Jeffrey Parker while responding to a 911 call in which the man said he was armed and planned to kill himself. Parker was aiming a gun to his own head when Darby shot him, per AP.

* The conviction carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Catch up quick: A city police review had previously cleared Darby of wrongdoing and he was allowed to remain a police officer, AP reported.

* Prosecutors argued Darby killed an innocent man without cause. “He called for help and he got Ben Darby," prosecutor Tim Gann said in closing arguments.

* The defense team said that Darby was justified in killing Parker, arguing the man posed a threat to the officers.

What they're saying: Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard welcomed the verdict, saying the “facts bore out there was nothing justified about this encounter.”

* Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle condemned the conviction, saying in a statement: "Fortunately, Officer Darby has the same appeal rights as any other citizen and is entitled to exercise those rights,” per AP.

* Huntsville police chief Mark McMurray said the verdict left local police "in the first stages of shock," according to AP.

* "I do not believe Officer Darby is a murderer," McMurry added. "Officers are forced to make split-second decisions every day, and Officer Darby believed his life and the lives of other officers were in danger."

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Do NOT call the police.

A few years back Escambia County Sheriff’s depputtes shot a man who had a gun in his mouth. The "justifiable" shooting took place about an hour after schools let out at an intersection with a taco bell, a McDonald's and another fast food kid's hangout. 132 shots if memory serves, or was it 80 something. Bullets struck the taco bell.

[Vrede too]

A few years back Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies shot a man who had a gun in his mouth. The "justifiable" shooting took place about an hour after schools let out at an intersection with a taco bell, a McDonald's and another fast food kid's hangout. 132 shots if memory serves, or was it 80 something. Bullets struck the taco bell.

Horrible.

This story is notable solely for the jury conviction, not for murder itself, the cowardly irresponsibility of Huntsville police officer William “Ben” Darby, the coverup by the city police review, the murderer staying on the police force, the lies by the defense team, nor for the excuse-making by Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle (R) and Huntsville police chief Mark McMurray and other local police.

You may recall from our BRN discussions that the Henderson County Sheriff's Office murdered a mentally ill woman that was "armed" with a cigarette lighter. It was covered up, too. I wrote the letter below to the Hendersonville Times-News in 12/2010, no response.

Dear HT-N folks,

I am very distressed and disappointed by the HT-N's coverage of the killing of Elizabeth Ann Shipman. You've really let down her memory, her parents and the entire community. The following summary is paraphrased from my post on her case in your news forums.

If you follow up, please strive not to associate me with my screen name as I'd just as soon maintain my anonymity there. Also, I want to see the full truth published and have no interest in being identified as the one asking for it as I have no personal stake in the matter, have no independent knowledge of the details, and have never even met any of the players in the incident.

Here's your first article, on 10/18:
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/201 ... S/10181017
Woman killed after shootout with deputies identified

"A Henderson County woman is dead after authorities say she fired shots at Henderson County sheriff's deputies Sunday afternoon.

Elizabeth Ann Shipman, 42, was killed after she shot at deputies during an altercation Sunday and deputies returned fire.

At 5:18 p.m. Sunday, the Henderson County Sheriff's Office responded to a disturbance call at 121 Ladson Spring Trail, according to Capt. Jerry Rice with the Sheriff's Office...

When deputies arrived at the residence, “The suspect was noncompliant with deputies, and after a brief period of verbal exchanges with the officers, the suspect pointed and discharged a handgun at them,” Rice said in the release. “The officers returned fire at the suspect, and she died at the scene.”…"

This is not John Harbin getting it wrong. Capt. Jerry Rice inaccurately described the event in a written release. People knew this the moment that they read the HT-N article, yet no correction was made. Even more people knew this by the time this untruth was repeated the next day:
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/201 ... ?p=2&tc=pg
Neighbors: Woman shot by deputies threatened them

"…When deputies arrived at the residence, “the suspect was noncompliant with deputies, and after a brief period of verbal exchanges with the officers, the suspect pointed and discharged a handgun at them,” Rice stated in the news release. “The officers returned fire at the suspect, and she died at the scene.”…"

Far more people knew that it was a lighter, not a gun, by the time the parents spoke to the media on 10/24:
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/201 ... S/10251004
Henderson family seeks answers in shooting

"...They described her as a sweet girl who didn't own a gun and said they want answers and justice...

“She was real happy. She didn't have a gun or even own a gun. She had a cigarette lighter, and it looked like a gun. She carried it for protection.”...

Herman Wright said if his daughter had a gun, he wants the Sheriff's Office to show it to him.

“We want some more answers,” he said. “We don't even know how many times she was shot. We want to know things. We haven't even heard from the Sheriff's Office.”...

Davis on Sunday stood by reports that Shipman was armed.

“Based on the witnesses or victims saying, there was a weapon and officers saying there was a weapon — that is a deadly force situation,” he said. “The time to show that to the family will come at a later time.”

He described the incident as a textbook case of a situation in which deadly force is justified.

“The neighbors were trapped at the scene by Mrs. Shipman with a weapon,” Davis said. “Officers put themselves in the line of fire to protect bystanders…""

It wasn't until Dec. 7 that Capt. Jerry Rice explained why his initial statement was so wrong:
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/201 ... S/12081023
Weapon was cigarette lighter in Mills River shooting

Nowhere does Rice justify why it took more than 7 weeks to correct his misstatement. Nor, evidently, does the HT-N ask.

It is unacceptable in a democracy for a written government untruth to not be immediately and publicly corrected. Whether initially an honest mistake or not, within a week that non-correction becomes a lie. Look at one of our HT-N forum threads on the tragedy:
http://forum.blueridgenow.com/viewtopic ... 66&start=0
Shooting Troubling; Unjust?

Citizens believed 100% that Elizabeth Ann Shipman fired a gun at officers.

It is also detestable that the HT-N would publish conflicting stories without reconciling the contradictions far sooner than it did, especially after so many of us pointed them out in these HT-N forums.

It is absolutely obscene that the HCSD, and by then many, many others, that knew the truth would not have quickly made the correction to the girl's parents, at least in private. They'd had a whole damn week by the time the parents spoke out! Perhaps they thought that waiting until the inevitable 'good shoot' ruling by SBI would diminish any questions and criticism that might arise. They were right.

Finally, it's grotesque that Sheriff Rick Davis would pretend to "clarify questions" about the event without explaining why Capt. Jerry Rice's lie wasn't retracted for more than 7 weeks. In communities more concerned with honest cops than ours, Davis and Rice would be submitting their resignations tomorrow.

For all I know, the events may have transpired exactly as the HCSD and SBI now describe them and the shooting was justified. The question is - Why would any of us be so gullible as to believe them after being treated so shabbily about the same incident for so long? Have you ever wondered why riots happen after police actions elsewhere? Now you know.

I urge the HT-N to do the right thing and sort this situation out. So far, all it's done is to regurgitate HCSD/SBI/Jeff Hunt statements even when they contradicted each other.

Anticipating the response that it was "under investigation" and further corrections/details could not be provided - If the HCSD wants to offer that lame excuse for allowing a lie to stand for more than 7 weeks, that's on them. To me, it's the media's job to at least point out that's what it did and that the public had been fed an untruth for the interim. Remember, by the Oct. 24 article Sheriff Davis was still discussing details of the event, but had dropped the explicit reference to a gun - a discrepancy that the HT-N ignored at the time.

I, and I hope the community, expect more from our prime news source than we've been given by the HT-N.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
(Vrede too)

Update: Sheriff Rick Davis soon resigned in a separate tawdry scandal. Elizabeth Ann Shipman never received justice.

[Vrede too]

My hero:

Florida Suspect Flees Police in Stolen Patrol Car, Crashes It, and Takes Off in Another

... The incident began in Cocoa, WESH 2 reported, when the suspect drove off in a patrol car after police responded to a suspicious person report on the I-95.

Officers with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office were able to force the stolen cruiser off the road, where it crashed into some woods.

However, as police surrounded the first vehicle, the suspect was able to escape and take off in a second patrol car....

[Vrede too]

Black Dunkin’ Donuts manager charged after fatally punching man who called him slur

Idk, the racist asshole had already been told to leave, which means he was trespassing. Don't start shit if you can't take a single punch. If I was on the jury I might vote to acquit.

[Ulysses]

Huh.

I just heard ten gunshots in the distance.

Whoops, there they go again, although this time it sounds more like firecrackers.

Kind of hard to tell, and I don't want to get close enough to make sure. It's from a direction I don't normally associate with gunfire, though.

[Vrede too]

It was routine when I was working at Highland in Oakland. Then, we would wait for the sirens to see if it was likely that we were getting victims.

[Vrede too]

And pigs will be pigs at any opportunity:

'Ready for the pop?': Colorado police officer joked about excessive force used in arrest of elderly woman, video shows



... 73-year-old Karen Garner, who has dementia ...

Her being a Karen is no excuse.

Loveland, Colorado, about 50 miles north of Denver, last year.

No Love in Copland.

... Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder, fractured arm and sprained wrist during her June 26, 2020, arrest, according to the lawsuit....

Hopp arrested Garner in June 2020 after she allegedly left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items. His body camera footage shows Hopp catching up to her as she walks through a field along a road. She shrugs and turns away from him and he quickly grabs her arm and pushes her 80-pound body to the ground. She looks confused and repeatedly says, “I am going home.”

The footage released Monday showed the officers laughing and making comments about Garner's injuries immediately after the arrest.

"about $14 worth of items"

:!: :!: :!:

Three Colorado police officers no longer employed after arrest of 73-year-old woman with dementia

Update:

Cops charged after arrest of 73-year-old with dementia caught on video in Colorado

Two former Colorado police officers have been charged in connection to an arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia.

Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, who resigned from the Loveland Police Department in April, face criminal charges in connection to the arrest of Karen Garner, The Coloradoan reported.

Hopp is charged with attempt to influence a public servant, assault causing serious bodily injury and official misconduct.

Jalali is charged with failure to intervene as a peace officer, failure to report use of force by a peace officer and official misconduct....

Garner filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the officers last month....

Good and good.

[Vrede too]

Murdering Louisiana State Police and their superiors lied for 2 years.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/grisly-photo ... 03350.html
But, the victim had a persistent family.

[Vrede too]

Police are still killing people at the same rate as before

Who had 'Nothing will change' in the pool?

[O Really]

There's something majorly wrong in a country when a state can/will revoke a cops certification (so he can't get any cop job in the state) for having sex while on duty, but can't seem to be able to fire those using excessive, including lethal, force.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... x-on-duty/

[Vrede too]

There's something majorly wrong in a country when a state can/will revoke a cops certification (so he can't get any cop job in the state) for having sex while on duty, but can't seem to be able to fire those using excessive, including lethal, force.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... x-on-duty/

There's something majorly wrong in a country when sex can only vaguely be depicted on TV, but uber-violence is perfectly acceptable.


White guy wrongly convicted:

Michigan man exonerated of murder after 32 years in prison

... Poole repeatedly denied any role. In 2015, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered DNA testing of biological material gathered by police in 1988. There was evidence of type A blood at the scene, which didn’t match Mejia’s or Poole’s blood.

:confusion-scratchheadblue: That's not DNA, and blood typing was available 32 years ago.

... (Attorney General Dana) Nessel said Poole will be eligible for a variety of post-prison services, including housing assistance. She didn't address whether he would qualify for $1.6 million under Michigan's wrongful conviction compensation program.

The law grants $50,000 for each year spent in prison if someone is exonerated, typically because of new evidence

Justice delayed? Texas man declared 'actually innocent' in 2010 murder

For more than a decade, Lydell Grant of Houston has insisted he was innocent of murder, writing letters from his prison cell that he was "wrongfully convicted" and a "victim of a miscarriage of justice."

But even after reanalyzed DNA evidence and breakthrough computer technology helped authorities track down a new suspect, and convinced prosecutors in Harris County to support Grant's release on bail in November 2019, he was still not officially exonerated — until now.

Texas' highest criminal court last week ruled that Grant, 44, is "actually innocent" in the fatal stabbing of a man outside a Houston bar in 2010, a murder that would have left Grant locked up for life. Although Grant had an alibi witness at trial, his supporters say jurors were swayed by the prosecution's flawed DNA analysis and unreliable eyewitnesses who believed he was the Black man suspected in the crime.

How did they fuck up the DNA analysis?

... But Grant's struggle isn't over just yet: He is entitled to compensation for being wrongly incarcerated, which in Texas amounts to $80,000 for every year behind bars, plus the chance for monthly annuity payments for the rest of the person's life. He is also seeking to get his record of the crime expunged....

The apparent delay by the Court of Criminal Appeals to rule on Grant's innocence — even though prosecutors said another man had committed the murder and confessed — for about a year and a half seemed inexplicable, legal experts who followed the case previously told NBC News.

Black guy wrongly convicted is a likely explanation. He should get double reimbursement for that year and a half.

... (Grant's attorney Mike) Ware said he's still pushing for reforms in a criminal justice system that he sees is already stacked against Black men like Grant, which is highlighted by the racial disparities in the number of arrests and people in Texas' juvenile justice and prison systems. Ware estimates that thousands of inmates in Texas prisons are innocent....

[O Really]

Seems there may be a dearth of competent defense attorneys.