Police : COPS DEHUMANIZING BLACKS FOR FUN

[Kemetstry]

Ex-Texas officer found guilty of manslaughter in fatal 2019 shooting of Atatiana Jefferson ​

After more than 13 hours of deliberation, a Texas jury on Thursday found a white former police officer guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in 2019.

Ex-Fort Worth cop Aaron Dean charged with murder after shooting a black woman in her home
Former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean, 38, shot Jefferson through a window in her home on Oct. 12, 2019, while responding to a non-emergency call from a neighbor about an open front door. That night Jefferson, who was Black, was playing video games with her nephew, who testified that his aunt grabbed a gun after hearing noises outside.

The trial itself included six days of testimony and arguments that centered on whether Dean saw Jefferson was armed before he shot her.

Jefferson's death, which came less than two weeks after former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was convicted of murdering Botham Jean in his apartment, sparked backlash nationwide. Then-Police Chief Ed Kraus said there was "absolutely no excuse" for the shooting, and former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called it "unjustified." Dean resigned and was charged with murder.
The judge told the Tarrant County jury, which included no Black jurors, according to the Dallas Morning News, on Wednesday that they could also consider a charge of manslaughter.
Though the Fort Worth police department released body camera footage of the shooting and arrested Dean relatively quickly, the trial was delayed multiple times in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Dean's lead attorney having a terminal illness.
Dean faces up to 20 years in prison for manslaughter. He is scheduled for sentencing on Friday.




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[Kemetstry]

Louisiana officers charged in Black motorist’s deadly arrest ​

FARMERVILLE, La. (AP) — Five Louisiana law enforcement officers were charged Thursday with state crimes ranging from negligent homicide to malfeasance in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, a death authorities initially blamed on a car crash before long suppressed body-camera video showed white officers beating, stunning and dragging the Black motorist as he wailed, “I’m scared!”

FILE - This image from video from Louisiana state police state trooper Dakota DeMoss' body-worn camera, shows troopers holding up Ronald Greene before paramedics arrived on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP, File)© Provided by The Associated Press
These are the first criminal charges of any kind to emerge from Greene’s bloody death on a roadside in rural northeast Louisiana, a case that got little attention until an Associated Press investigation exposed a cover-up and prompted scrutiny of top Louisiana State Police brass, a sweeping U.S. Justice Department review of the agency and a legislative inquiry looking at what Gov. John Bel Edwards knew and when he knew it.


This image from video from Louisiana state police state trooper Dakota DeMoss' body-worn camera, shows trooper Kory York grabbing the leg shackles and dragging Ronald Greene on his stomach on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press
“We’re all excited for the indictments but are they actually going to pay for it?” said Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, who for more than three years has kept the pressure on state and federal investigators and vowed not to bury the cremated remains of her “Ronnie” until she gets justice. “As happy as we are, we want something to stick.”
Facing the most serious charges from a state grand jury was Master Trooper Kory York, who was seen on the body-camera footage dragging Greene by his ankle shackles, putting his foot on his back to force him down and leaving the heavyset man face down in the dirt for more than nine minutes. Use-of-force experts say these actions could have dangerously restricted Greene’s breathing, and the state police’s own force instructor called the troopers’ actions “torture and murder.” York was charged with negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office.


In this image from the body video camera of Louisiana State Police Lt. John Clary, Trooper Kory York stands over Ronald Greene, lying on his stomach, outside of Monroe, La., on May 10, 2019. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press
The others who faced various counts of malfeasance and obstruction included a trooper who denied the existence of his body-camera footage, another who exaggerated Greene’s resistance on the scene, a regional state police commander who detectives say pressured them not to make an arrest in the case and a Union Parish sheriff’s deputy heard on the video taunting Greene with the words “s—- hurts, doesn’t it?”

“These actions are inexcusable and have no place in professional public safety services,” the head of the state police, Col. Lamar Davis, said after the indictments, adding that his agency has in recent years made improvements aimed at “rebuilding of trust within the communities we serve.”
Union Parish District Attorney John Belton submitted arrest warrants for all five of the officers, praising the racially mixed grand jury for hearing the evidence and saying the people had spoken.
Belton had long held off on pursuing state charges at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which is conducting a separate criminal investigation. But as years passed and federal prosecutors grew increasingly skeptical they could prove the officers acted “willfully” — a key component of the civil rights charges they’ve been considering — they gave Belton the go-ahead this spring to convene a state grand jury.
That panel since last month considered detailed evidence and testimony related to the troopers’ use of force and their decision to leave the handcuffed Greene prone for several minutes before rendering aid. And for the first time in the case, a medical expert deemed Greene’s death a homicide.
The federal grand jury investigation, which expanded last year to examine whether state police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers, remains open, and prosecutors have been tight-lipped about when the panel could make a decision on charges.


Mona Hardin relives the events surrounding the death of her son Ronald Greene, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)© Provided by The Associated Press
Greene’s May 10, 2019, death was shrouded in secrecy from the beginning, when authorities told grieving relatives that the 49-year-old died in a car crash at the end of a high-speed chase near Monroe — an account questioned by both his family and even an emergency room doctor who noted Greene’s battered body. Still, a coroner’s report listed Greene’s cause of death as a motor vehicle accident, a state police crash report omitted any mention of troopers using force and 462 days would pass before state police began an internal probe.


FILE - This image from the body camera of Louisiana State Police Trooper Dakota DeMoss shows his colleagues, Kory York, center left, and Chris Hollingsworth, center right, holding up Ronald Greene before paramedics arrived on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP, File)© Provided by The Associated Press
All the while, the body-camera video remained so secret it was withheld from Greene’s initial autopsy and officials from Edwards on down declined repeated requests to release it, citing ongoing investigations.

But then last year, the AP obtained and published the footage, which showed what really happened: Troopers swarming Greene’s car, stunning him repeatedly, punching him in the head, dragging him by the shackles and leaving him prone on the ground for more than nine minutes. At times, Greene could be heard pleading for mercy and wailing, “I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!”


Mona Hardin, background left in green, mother of Ronald Greene, prays outside the gates of the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge, La., May 27, 2021, protesting the death of Greene, who died in the custody of Louisiana State Police in 2019. Foreground is Ron Haley, attorney for the Greene family. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)© Provided by The Associated Press
At one point, York orders Greene to “lay on your f------ belly like I told you to!” Union Parish Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Harpin can be heard taunting, “Yeah, yeah, that s--- hurts, doesn’t it?”
Attorneys for York and Harpin said both expect to be found not guilty at trial if the charges aren't dismissed first. Reached by phone, former Trooper Dakota DeMoss, whose body-camera captured much of the arrest, declined to comment, saying “you guys always get it wrong.” Lt. John Clary’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment in the courthouse. Former state police Capt. John Peters declined to comment.
Fallout brought federal scrutiny not just to the troopers but to whether top brass obstructed justice to protect them.


This May 10, 2019 photo provided by the Louisiana State Police shows Trooper Dakota DeMoss, in West Monroe, La., after troopers punched, dragged and stunned Black motorist Ronald Greene during his fatal 2019 arrest. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press
Investigators have focused on a meeting in which detectives say that state police commanders pressured them to hold off on arresting a trooper seen on body-camera video striking Greene in the head and later boasting, “I beat the ever-living f--- out of him.” That trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, was widely seen as the most culpable of the half-dozen officers involved, but he died in a high-speed, single-vehicle crash in 2020 just hours after he was informed he would be fired over his role in Greene’s arrest.


This May 10, 2019 photo provided by the Louisiana State Police shows Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, in West Monroe, La., after troopers punched, dragged and stunned Black motorist Ronald Greene during his fatal 2019 arrest. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press
The AP later found that Greene’s arrest was among at least a dozen cases over the past decade in which state police troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beatings of mostly Black men, deflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct. Dozens of current and former troopers said the beatings were countenanced by a culture of impunity, nepotism and, in some cases, racism.
Such reports were cited by the U.S. Justice Department this year in launching a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Louisiana State Police, the first “pattern or practice” probe of a statewide law enforcement agency in more than two decades.
Scrutiny has also turned to the actions of the Democratic governor, who oversees the state police.
A legislative panel launched an “all-levels” investigation into the state’s handling of the Greene case this year after AP reported that Edwards had been informed within hours that the troopers arresting Greene engaged in a “violent, lengthy struggle,” yet stayed mostly silent for two years as police continued to press the car crash theory.
Another AP report found Edwards privately watched a key body-camera video of Greene’s deadly arrest six months before state prosecutors say they knew it even existed, and neither the governor, his staff nor the state police acted urgently to get the footage into the hands of those with the power to bring charges.
Edwards has repeatedly said he did nothing to influence or hinder the Greene investigation and has described the troopers’ actions as both criminal and racist. But he has yet to testify before the legislative panel, saying he was unable to appear at a hearing last month, instead attending a groundbreaking ceremony for an infrastructure project.
“Today’s decision is a long overdue first step toward justice for Ronald Greene’s family and accountability for a broken police system,” said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “Ronald Greene should be alive today.”
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Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.


FILE - This undated photo provided by his family in September 2020 shows Ronald Greene. Authorities initially said Greene died in May 2019 after crashing his vehicle into a tree following a high-speed chase in rural northern Louisiana that began over an unspecified traffic violation. But Greene's family alleges troopers used excessive force and "brutalized" him while taking him into custody. (Family Photo via AP, File)© Provided by The Associated Press

FILE - Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks about the investigation into the death of Ronald Greene in Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, file)© Provided by The Associated Press

This image from video from Louisiana state trooper Lt. John Clary's body-worn camera shows troopers and medical personnel with Ronald Greene on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press

This image from video from Louisiana state police state trooper Dakota DeMoss' body-worn camera, shows trooper Kory York bending over with his foot on Ronald Greene's shoulder after he was taken into custody on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. (Louisiana State Police via AP)© Provided by The Associated Press




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[cherryblossom]

I don't think I can do this thread. These reports make me heart-sick. I still get emotional about Kalief Browder.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

5 ex-Memphis cops involved in Tyre Nichols' death charged with second-degree murder

Attorneys for Nichols' family alleged he died after being beaten by officers during a traffic stop.

www.axios.com

 

[jamesfrmphilly]