Will White Prosecutors Re-Try White Cop Who Murdered Sam Dubose? Answer: Not In a System of White Supremacy

From [HERE] White Ohio prosecutors announced Tuesday that they will not seek a third trial against Ray Tensing, a University of Cincinnati police officer charged in the 2015 death of an unarmed black driver.

Tensing, who is white, has been tried twice for murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of 43-year-old Samuel DuBose. Both cases were before mostly white juries, the most recent of which ended last month, concluded in mistrials after the juries said they were deadlocked. 

 His last jury conssited of Nine whites and 3 African Ameircans (9 women and 3 men). [MORE] His previous jury was composed of 10 whites. [MORE] 

Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters said the decision "rips my heart out," but that he didn't feel he would be able to bring a successful case against Tensing.

"After discussing this matter with multiple jurors — both black and white — they have, to a person, said to us that we will never be able to get a conviction in this case," Deters said, later he added:

"After two trials and a million dollars, the best lawyers I could come up with were unsuccessful at conviction. I've concluded we cannot win a trial on this case in these facts." [MORE]

On July 19, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Samuel DuBose (43), an unarmed Black man, was fatally shot by Ray Tensing (27), a University of Cincinnatipolice officer, during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate. Tensing fired after DuBose started his car. Tensing stated that DuBose had begun to drive off and that he was being dragged because his arm was caught in the car. Prosecutors alleged that footage from Tensing's bodycam showed that he was not dragged and a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He was then fired from the police department. He was released on bond before trial. A November 2016 trial ended in mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. The retrial began in May 2017 and also ended in a hung jury on June 23, 2017.

In January 2016, following two days of mediation with civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, the University of Cincinnati agreed to pay $4.85 million to the DuBose family. In addition to financial compensation, the settlementincluded free undergraduate education for DuBose's children, the creation of a memorial in his name, an apology from the school's president, and engagement by the family in police reform at the university. It also protected all potential defendants from any future civil litigation in DuBose's death. 

Car Did Not Move. He Was Not Stuck to the Car. But a forensic frame by frame analysis of the the bodycam video [see below] showed that the car did not move or barely moved an inch before Tensing fired his gun. The bodycam video also shows Tensing was not dragged. Also, a  report by a risk-consulting firm hired by the university said that the video showed that Mr. Tensing was not being dragged, that the car had barely moved before the gunshot was fired and that Mr. Tensing had made several critical errors — including drawing his gun and reaching into the car. 

During the trial Tensing admitted that he was not stuck to anything in the car and that he was not being held in the car by Dubose. He said he misperceived being stuck to the car. He said he realized he was not stuck after he watched the video. [See [full testimony] on video above at 1:45:51]. It also seems improbable that he could perceive being run over because he was on the drivers side of the vehicle - as the car moved forward not sideways.  

Tensing's beliefs were actually delusions or misperceptions. He told the jury a story more in accord with the apppetite of the racist listener, not with the realities of life: He was scared to death of a frightening young Black man - and he was by himself. 

During the white cop's tearful testimony [crying w/o tears, see video] last Friday at the Hamilton County Courthouse in Cincinnati, Tensing, dressed in a dark suit, said that DuBose was evasive during the traffic stop and attempted to speed away.

"He just mashed the accelerator to the floor," said Tensing, who paused occasionally to wipe his eyes with a tissue [yet there were no tears]. "I protected my life," Tensing said when asked by prosecutors if he had served and protected DuBose. Tensing said repeatedly that he shot to "stop the threat." 

Racism is a virus in the mind. [MORE]

Will White Woman's Family Get Justice? How Many Unarmed White People Have Been Killed by Black Cops? [zero]

Anon asks: "Q: What is collective power?

A: Collective power is the institutions and systems that benefit one group at the expense of another group, and allow one group to dominate another group in all areas of human activity.

For example, when a white policeman shoots an unarmed black man, his fellow officers, the police chief, internal affairs, the union, the media, the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury will support, defend, and finance that white police officer’s “right” to shoot (murder) an unarmed black person. That is white collective power.

Anon explains: It is rare for a white police officer to be punished for using excessive force against a black man, woman, or child. It is just as rare for a black police officer to use excessive force against a white person.

In fact, the authors were unable to find a single instance of a black police officer shooting or killing an unarmed white person in the history of modern law enforcement. This is not surprising but it is absolute proof that the black individual operating within a system of white supremacy cannot mistreat whites even if he or she is wearing a uniform, a badge, and carrying a gun." [MORE] BW knows of only one alleged incident with off duty cop Christopher Dorner - which was never proven. DO you know any others?   

From [HERE] The white mayor of Minneapolis said she wants to hear from the African officer who fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk, a white woman. 

But so far, officer Mohamed Noor has exercised his constitutional right to not speak to state investigators, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Tuesday.

And, it's not clear if or when he will.

"He has a story to tell that no one else can tell," Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a news conference Tuesday. "We can't compel him by law, but I wish that he would make that statement."

The news conference capped a day of developments in a case that's raising questions about police training, use of force and body camera policies. The shooting has led newscasts in Australia, where Ruszczyk is originally from.

- BCA says Officer Matthew Harrity, who was in the car with Noor, gave a statement to investigators Tuesday

- So far, BCA says Noor has declined to speak to investigators, and his lawyer has not said if or when he will

- Preliminary investigation finds that Noor fired at Ruszczyk from the passenger seat of his police vehicle

- The officers turned on body cameras after the shooting; the squad car camera was never turned on

- The police department has opened an internal affairs use of force review, assistant chief says

Investigations could take months

Click to read more ...

White Cop who Fatally Shot Black Man [Terence Crutcher] in the Back w/His Hands Up Decides to Quit [work for Tigerswan?]

From [PBS] The Tulsa, Oklahoma officer who fatally shot Terence Crutcher last year is resigning from her administrative position at the Tulsa Police Department, a national police union said Friday.

A jury acquitted Betty Shelby in May of all charges related to the death of Crutcher, a 40-year-old black motorist. She was allowed to return to the department days later in an administrative role.

Since then, “I have found that sitting behind a desk, isolated from all my fellow officers and the citizens of Tulsa, is just not for me,” Shelby said in a letter posted to Facebook by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93.

Shelby, who is white, said she would resign Aug. 3.

She thanked her white supporters and “fellow [white] officers for the moral support they gave me the last 10 months,” adding that “the incident with Terence Crutcher was a tragedy for everyone involved, and I am sorry he lost his life.”

“I pray [to my white God and his white son] for healing for his family, I will continue to pray for the unity of our community, the safety of our citizens and our police officers,” she added.

Before the jury’s decision in May, Shelby had been on unpaid leave since prosecutors charged her with first-degree manslaughter in September.

On Sept. 16, 2016, dashcam footage captured the fatal encounter between Shelby and Crutcher, whose vehicle was found stalled in the middle of a road. Crutcher can be seen raising his hands in the video.

Shelby testified that Crutcher had refused to comply with her commands and she thought he was reaching for a gun inside his vehicle. She responded with a single shot. Crutcher died later that day.

Last month, Crutcher’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit against Shelby and the City of Tulsa, arguing that the officer used excessive force in the eccounter.

Though the jury’s decision was to acquit Shelby, the jury’s foreman wrote a letter that said jurors were not “comfortable with the concept of Betty Shelby being blameless,” questioning why she hadn’t used a stun gun instead of a firearm to de-escalate the situation.

Shelby’s attorney, Shannon McMurray, told CBS that it’s unclear what the 43-year-old soon-to-be former officer will pursue next.

[MORE]

Black Prosecutor Learning About Her Role in Racist System? Orlando Cops Pulled Aramis Ayala Over b/c she's Black

Your Government is Corrupt. "Those who participate in corrupt systems, they the traitors." KRS-One. From [HERE] An awkward video has surfaced showing two white Orlando police officers pulling over Aramis Ayala, Florida's first African-American elected state attorney. 

The incident took place at around 8:14 p.m. on June 19. 

In the video, two white officers have a tough time explaining to Ayala, who is not only Central Florida's state attorney but arguably the most recognizable state attorney in Florida, why she had been stopped. 

You may recall that racist suspect Governor Rick Scott removed Ayala from the case against Black murder suspect Markeith Loyd after she publicly announced that she would not pursue the death penalty against Loyd. [MORE] and [MORE]. Now she is in a legal battle with the white Governnor over whether Ayala had the discretion to adopt a policy not to seek the death penalty in her district. Ayala, a Democrat who took office in January, sued the Republican governor this spring over his decision to take her off two dozen murder cases.[MORE]  She has been receiving death threats, including from [white people] local government employees. [MORE] Florida's death row is 46% non-white. 

"Thank you, your tag didn't come back, never seen that before, but we're good now. We ran the tag, I've never seen it before with a Florida tag, it didn't come back to anything, so that's the reason for the stop."

Ayala then asks, "what was the tag run for?" which the officer then struggles to explain. 

"Oh we run tags through all the time, whether it's a traffic light and that sort stuff, that's how we figure out if cars are stolen and that sort of thing," he said, as Ayala sits in her car, clearly annoyed. 

"Also, the windows are really dark, I don't have a tint measure but that's another reason for the stop." 

Ayala then asks for the officers' names, saying, "Do you guys have cards on you?"

The officers don't have cards, so their names are written down on a piece of paper.

Racist Suspect Ohio officer fired after video shows him kicking Black man in the head while he was pinned down

From [HERE] The white Ohio police officer caught on camera kicking a Black man in the head while he was pinned to the ground has been fired.

Video of Columbus Officer Zachary Rosen posted on YouTube shows him kicking Demarko Anderson, who was being held by another cop on April 8.

The blow smacked the 22-year-old’s head into the pavement, and the video shows Rosen kneeling on top of Anderson, who was allegedly threatening to shoot people, until other officers arrive.

The local Fraternal Order of Police announced his firing on Monday, trying to explain his alleged brutality by saying that a “man with a gun” call is “one of the most dangerous and heart-pounding calls an officer ever gets.”

“As he approached, Officer Rosen saw that the gunman was not yet fully subdued and was actively resisting arrest. Police officers are trained to act quickly and with all the force necessary to make sure no one gets shot by the gunman in these circumstances,” it said in a statement to WCMH.

Immediate supervisors for Rosen, who was involved in a controversial shooting death in 2016 but not indicted by a grand jury, had said that he acted in line with department policies.

Rosen was removed from patrol after the arrest, and an investigation from Columbus deputy chief last month recommended that he be suspended.

The city’s mayor, Andrew Ginther, said in a statement that he supported the decision to fire Rosen, made by Director of Public Safety Ned Pettus.

[All About Keeping Cops Safe] Serving Warrant SAPD Cops Go Berserk: Pointed gun @ Latino Child, Killed Dog, Ransacked Home, Broke Man's Arms

From [HERE] A Latino family in San Antonio says they were terrorized by San Antonio police officers in their home southwest of downtown.

The officers were carrying out multiple search warrants on Royston Avenue last Thursday when the family said police used excessive force.

SAPD said the officers were conducting a narcotics and gang investigation when they tracked down a man with a criminal history, Felix Lopez, inside a home.

Lopez's grandson, Devin Valdez, 10, was sitting on the couch when officers stormed in. Lopez was showering.

"They tried to get my grandpa out of the restroom, got him out, then started hitting him, so I tried telling them to stop and they took me to the room, and put me in handcuffs and had a gun pointed to my head," Valdez said.

The family said Devin was eventually tossed outside.

"He was able to see everything they did to him," Delia Mendoza, his grandmother said.

Delia Mendoza said her fiancée was left battered and her house covered in blood.

"His face is broke, all of his cheekbone is broken, he might lose his eye, both arms are broken, he's got a slash across his head," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the officers ransacked her home, and even shot and killed her dog that was tied up in the backyard.

Police said they found a variety of drugs behind the home they believe belong to Lopez, who is in the hospital recovering from the incident.

"Yes, Felix has a past, they need to stop judging him because of his past," Mendoza said.

A racist suspect SAPD spokesman says serving warrants is dangerous and often unpredictable.

"You have to go through that door and you don't know what to expect so you have to be mindful there are people who could be armed, there could be people trying to destroy evidence and you could have innocent kids in there that have nothing to do with what's going on and don't even know what's going on," Sgt. Jesse Salame said.

Family said it's a traumatizing event that 10-year-old Devin won't forget anytime soon.

White GA Cops Claim They Defended Themselves from Attack. Video Shows Defenseless Black Man Tasered to Death

From [HERE] and [HERE] Washington County's NAACP chapter will meet Sunday to discuss the death of a Black man after being Tased by 3 white deputies. He said the group has invited representatives from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and county commissioners.

The GBI is investigating last Friday's death of Eurie Martin, who died on the side of Deepstep Road after being tased while deputies responded to a report of a "suspicious person" on the road.

Deputy Michael Howell, Sargent Lee Copeland and Deputy Rhett Scott were the responding officers who killed Martin according to a press release from the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office says Martin fought deputies, but a bystander's phone video doesn't show that.

Dotson called the Tasing a "wrongful death," because there's no evidence that Martin did anything wrong.

"The video doesn't show him doing anything but walking, and that's not a crime," said Dotson.

Stop Calling the Police to Help Black People 'in Distress'

Eurie Martin died on Friday while in Washington County Sheriff's Office custody.

Helen Martin, Eurie Martin's sister said, "I did find out that he had been deceased until that afternoon..on Saturday afternoon..somewhere about 2:30 maybe 3 o'clock."

Earlier that night Helen Martin received a call from a friend that her brother was walking down Deepstep Road.

"When I did make the 911 call I let them know who he was, told them his birthday. I also told them, asked them really could they go out and check on him. And I told them that I was in no condition to go out to check on him and get him myself because I just really wasn't in the condition," said Helen Martin.

What martin didn't know was that someone else had already called 9-1-1 about her brother shortly after 7 pm because of "suspicious activity," according to a GBI press release.

Helen says Eurie needed help though and couldn't be on his own.

"He couldn't function. He couldn't take care of himself really. He had really basically depend on others," said Martin.

Click to read more ...

“I will touch you anytime I want to touch you” Long Beach to pay $2.4 mil after White Cops Beat Subdued Latino Man

html5 video converter by EasyHtml5Video.com v3.9.1

From [HERE] Long Beach has agreed to pay almost $2.5 million to a pair of cousins who sued the city after police officers were filmed hitting them repeatedly with batons during an arrest in 2010.

Last year, the two men, Miguel Contreras and Miguel Vazquez, won an excessive force lawsuit against Long Beach. A jury awarded them more than $1.6 million.

A settlement approved by the City Council on Tuesday adds about $900,000 to cover attorneys’ fees and other costs, according to the men’s lawyers.

The deal avoids any litigation over the fees and ends any possible appeal of the jury’s verdict, according to the attorneys.

The arrest in question happened on the early morning of Nov. 27, 2010, as Vazquez and Contreras returned from The Falcon bar in Long Beach.

The violent altercation left Vazquez with a broken finger and Contreras with nerve damage and multiple fractures in his elbow, according to their lawsuits.

“(Contreras) can’t extend his elbow,” said attorney David McLane, who represented Vazquez. “He was severely damaged and suffered from PTSD as a result of this incident. It changed his life.”

During the trial in October, jurors decided that Long Beach police Lt. David Faris, who was a sergeant at the time, and Officer Michael Hynes used excessive force when they beat Contreras and Vazquez with batons.

It’s difficult to make out the baton blows in a dark, grainy video filmed from a nearby apartment, but the audio includes yelling and cries of pain from the cousins as the cops continually assault them after they are subdued. 

Vazquez can be heard moaning when an officer steps on his hand, breaking his pinkie, McLane said.

In their lawsuits, Contreras and Vazquez said they’d just arrived at Vazquez’s apartment in the 1600 block of Broadway when Vazquez saw Faris and Hynes detaining a group of people that included a friend of Vazquez.

Vazquez’s lawsuit said that when he asked what was going on, one of the officers told him to go home and pushed him away.

In the recording, Vazquez can be heard saying, “Don’t [expletive] touch me.”

A man, identified in court documents as Faris, responds, “I will touch you anytime I want to touch you. You understand that?”

Click to read more ...

Suit Says As Latino Man [Manuel Vasquez ] Put His Hands Up White Riverside County Cop shot at him 13X

From [HERE] A man who was shot at 13 times by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy in Moreno Valley last year is suing the county, claiming the deputy used excessive force, lied in his report on the incident and was not properly held accountable.

The lawsuit goes further, alleging that the shooting was the result of policies and practices within the Sheriff’s Department, including inadequate supervision and discipline of deputies, that “have resulted in a culture of violence in which the use of excessive force is an accepted and customary part of police work in the County of Riverside.”

The suit, filed Thursday in federal court on behalf of plaintiff Manuel Vasquez, 29, demands a jury trial and seeks yet-to-be-determined damages. Two defendants in addition to the county are named: Sheriff Stan Sniff and Investigator Michael Callahan, who shot Vasquez.

The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit because the litigation is ongoing.

The shooting occurred about 2 a.m. June 12, 2016. Vasquez was struck twice in the back and once each in the head and left hand, the lawsuit says. His attorney, Jeremy Jass, said in an interview that the injuries continue to hinder Vasquez’s life — he cannot use his left hand, which makes finding work difficult.

The shooting

A news release issued by the Sheriff’s Department at the time said a deputy was on routine patrol when he spotted a stolen car and followed it to the 15300 block of Canyonstone Drive, where the driver parked and approached a house. The release said only that the shooting happened after the deputy made contact with the man.

According to the lawsuit, Vasquez was driving his sister’s car — which had been reported stolen — to visit his girlfriend at her mother’s house. Callahan watched Vasquez walk up to the home and followed him with his pistol drawn.

While Vasquez and his girlfriend were talking through a window, Callahan ordered Vasquez to put his hands up, the suit said. Vasquez — “not sure who was talking to him or what was said to him” — turned around and asked, “What?”

The lawsuit contends that as Vasquez began to put his hands up, Callahan shot at him 13 times.

Vasquez was taken to a hospital, then booked into jail the next day, sheriff’s officials said at the time.

The lawsuit claims that Callahan “lied in his report and interview after the shooting” in saying that he saw Vasquez with a gun and that Vasquez “took a shooting stance at him.”

Vasquez was unarmed, had not committed a serious crime, did not pose a threat to Callahan, was showing his hands as ordered and was shot while he “was in a position of submission,” the complaint said. Jass said Vasquez’s injuries contradict the deputy’s claims.

Click to read more ...

Suit says HPD Suddenly & Violently Body Slammed Black Man On his Neck, Head & Face After Marijuana Stop

From [HERE] A Black man said in a lawsuit filed Friday that he was “violently beaten, harassed, taunted, wrongfully arrested and denied medical attention” during a July 2015 encounter with a Houston police officer.

Larry Moore Jr., 33, says the officer used excessive force and violated his constitutional rights after pulling him over for a traffic stop and finding a bag of marijuana. He is seeking compensation from the officer, the police department and the city for his injuries, pain, mental anguish and medical expenses, as well as punitive damages.

Representatives of the Houston Police Department and the city of Houston declined to comment on pending litigation.

However, an official with the Houston Police Officers' Union weighed in."We believe this to be a frivolous lawsuit," said Joe Gamaldi, a union vice president. "Any force used by our officers was justified. This is an attempt of a suspect in possession of two pounds of marijuana to gain notoriety or possible financial benefit by suing our hardworking officers."

Moore was pulled over about 7:30 p.m. July 7, 2015, while driving with a passenger on Mykawa Road in southeast Houston, according to the lawsuit’s statement of facts. Moore pulled into the parking lot of the Fiesta Mart supermarket at 5600 Mykawa.

Officer Kevin Hubenak, a nine-year HPD veteran, wrote in a sworn statement used to charge Moore that he pulled over Moore’s vehicle because it ran a red light and also had a broken taillight.

Moore and his passenger “immediately turned and began looking at officers through the back window while repeatedly shifting their weight around,” Hubenak wrote in the sworn statement. As the officers walked up to the vehicle, “they immediately observed the distinct odor of fresh marijuana emanating from within the vehicle.”

The officer could see into the vehicle as the passenger moved a black trash bag from the center console, according to the sworn statement. Inside that trash bag, the officers later found two clear plastic bags filled with a little more than 2 pounds of marijuana.

Moore and his passenger stepped out of the car when the officers told them to, the lawsuit and the sworn statement both say.

Then the passenger, Michael Brooks, ran away on foot, both documents say. Hubenak’s partner caught and arrested him after a foot chase.

That’s where the accounts diverge.

Hubenak’s sworn statement says Brooks fought with the other officer and ran away after Moore already was handcuffed. It does not discuss any physical contact between Hubenak and Moore.

The lawsuit offers a different account: “After Mr. Brooks ran from the scene, officer Hubenak suddenly and violently body slammed Mr. Moore on his neck, head and face, causing him to go into a brief state of shock, as well as a severe laceration and extreme swelling. Once Mr. Moore regained consciousness, he felt that he had handcuffs on one of his wrists and observed officer Hubenak punching him in the face and body. Officer Hubenak then began kicking Mr. Moore.”

The lawsuit asserts that Hubenak only stopped when bystanders at the Fiesta Mart yelled at the officer to stop hitting Moore.

Then, the account says, Hubenak cuffed Moore’s second wrist and “placed his boot on Mr. Moore (sic) head, so forcefully that it left a dirt boot print in Mr. Moore’s hair.”

Click to read more ...