Ohio Attorney General Finds 'systemic failure' (White supremacy) in Cleveland Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Couple Shot 137 Times

Ohio AG said: "This Could Happen Again. The police department system failed these officers and they failed the general public. You can’t look at that report and come up with any other conclusion.” His statements echoed Neely Fuller who said: "You Should expect to be killed in the name of racism anytime, any place. You have been marked as an enemy because you are Black. Keep your protest signs because this will happen again. [mp3 Skip forward to 22:46]

(In photo, white Mayor Frank Jackson defends the actions of white police chief Michael McGrath at a press conference on February 5, 2013. Mostly white cops shot unarmed Black couple 137 times in 20 seconds.) 

 From [HERE] and [HERE] Leadership and communication failures led to the chaotic police chase in Cleveland last fall that ended with 13 officers firing 137 rounds and killing two Black people who likely were unarmed, Ohio’s attorney general said yesterday in reporting the results of an exhaustive investigation.

All told, 47 of the 137 rounds fired by 13 Cleveland officers hit their targets -- 43-year-old Timothy Russell and 30-year-old Malissa Williams, according to the Cuyahoga County medical examiner. Dr. Thomas P. Gilson reported that 24 of the rounds riddled the head, neck, body and an arm of Williams, who was a passenger in the Chevrolet Malibu SS, and 23 rounds struck the head, neck and extremities of driver Timothy Russell. 12 of the 13 officers involved were white. [MORE] [don't blame the gun or incompetence]

Police Claim they heard a Gun Shot & Saw a Gun Thrown Out of a Window: Attorney General Found Car was Prone to Loud Backfiring from Muffler

“It was total lack of control,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said during a news conference at the state crime laboratory. He turned over the report to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty, who said he would take the case to a grand jury to determine whether any of the officers should face criminal charges. Officials didn’t announce a timeframe for the grand jury review, and McGinty said he hadn’t drawn any conclusions about charges.

The report did not assign blame to any of the officers but said “systemic failures” in the Cleveland Police Department led to the escalation of the Nov. 29 chase and the fatal shootings of the car’s driver, Timothy Russell, 43, and his 30-year-old passenger, Malissa Williams. Both were Black and unarmed.  

They were killed after they led the police on a chase that began outside the Justice Center. A police official said two Cleveland officers heard a gunshot and believed it came from a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu that David Russell owned. Russell  said he gave the car involved in the chase to his brother, and that it had a bad muffler -  which could account for the sound. Then the car sped away and the officers chased them. AG Dewine found that the car in fact was prone to loud backfiring. An officer also claimed that he saw a gun thrown out of the car during the high speed chase. No evidence of a gun being fired from inside the car was found according to Dewine. No guns were found.

Officers from Bratenahl, East Cleveland, the State Highway Patrol and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office joined in the pursuit. It ended on a dead-end access street in East Cleveland, near Heritage Middle School, where police claim Russell “violently rammed a police car and almost struck an officer,” Follmer said.

The chase continued for 25 minutes, reaching speeds of 120 miles-per-hour, before ending in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School. Russell ended up on a dead-end access road to an East Cleveland middle school. There approximately 25 polcie officers converged on the Black man's car. They surrounded the Malibu, and some officers were out of their cars when Russell rammed another police car, Gardner said. Officers then unloaded on the car firing at least 137 shots in about 20 seconds. [MORE] 

“Command failed, communications failed, the system failed,” DeWine said. He said that nearly 60 vehicles involved in the chase failed to follow city policy and joined the high-speed pursuit without asking a supervisor's permission.

The supervisor, DeWine said, told investigators he thought only three of cars were involved in the chase because cruisers were communicating on different radio channels.

Police Chief Michael McGrath responded to DeWine's findings at a later City Hall press conference saying there was no "systematic failure" because the department has solid policies and procedures in place.

DeWine said he saw McGrath’s comments later Tuesday and was shocked and troubled by them. 

“This type of attitude, this head in the sand, refusal to look at the facts, could mean we could have this problem again, and next time we may have an innocent bystander who dies, or police officers who are killed, which could very well have happened this time,” DeWine said. “People in leadership need to take responsibility. The police department system failed these officers and they failed the general public. You can’t look at that report and come up with any other conclusion.” 

It’s not one or two officers who made a mistake, DeWine said, but dozens of officers, which “means you have a systemic problem.”  “It’s leadership,” DeWine said. “We have a culture problem in the department. The leadership failed, and will continue (to fail) if they continue to put their head in the sand.” 

In photo, mostly white Cleveland police officers listen to their union president Jeffery Follmer speak to media at the CPPA hall on December 1, 2012. [MORE] 

Patrick D’Angelo, a white man, the police union attorney, said the shooting would be found to be justified. The chase reflects the risks officers face daily, he said.

“The driver of the car tried to run over numerous police officers, he intentionally rammed other patrol cars and officers were in fear of their life, and they did what they were trained to do,” D’A ngelo said.

A key question remained unanswered: Did the two people fleeing in the car have a weapon that was tossed out during the chase? DeWine said tests on the two and their vehicle showed traces of gunpowder but it wasn’t conclusive on whether they had been armed or whether the residue came from the extensive gunfire.

Some community leaders called the shootings racially motivated, because Russell and Williams were black, but D’Angelo said race wasn’t a factor in the chase.

DeWine described a confusing scene where dozens of police cruisers from multiple jurisdictions became involved in the chase without permission from superiors and little direction after some officers thought someone from the car had fired shots.

Then, at the end of the chase, officers positioned on both sides of the suspects’ car began firing, the report said. The crossfire led other officers to believe they were involved in a shootout with the two people in the car.

Many of the officers told investigators they were frightened and feared for their lives.

Officer Michael Brelo, according to his account, climbed onto the trunk and then the top of a patrol car and reloaded his gun, firing rounds. An Iraq war veteran, the officer said he saw “the suspects moving and I could not understand why they are still moving, shooting at us. Even through Iraq, I never fired my weapon. I never have been so afraid in my life.”

Another officer, David Siefer, radioed fellow officers to be careful because the passenger was armed.

“He’s pointing the gun. He’s pointing the gun out the back window. Heads up. Heads up. Passenger is pointing a gun out the back window. Everybody be careful,” Siefer said.

Siefer later told investigators he didn’t actually see a gun. “Despite not actually seeing a gun, Siefer broadcast on the radio that the passenger has just pointed a gun out the rear window,” the report said.

Mayor Frank Jackson, who has said officers who violated department rules in the chase would be disciplined, and Police Chief Michael McGrath said the state’s report is among factors the city will consider as it continues its own review.

A separate federal review is continuing.

The chase went through residential neighborhoods and onto a freeway before ending with the car blocked in at the rear of a school in neighboring East Cleveland. It reached 100 mph and lasted 25 miles and 22 minutes.

The report noted that Russell was legally drunk when he became involved in the chase, and he and Williams also tested positive for cocaine. DeWine said they likely had been smoking crack. It wasn’t clear why Russell didn’t stop for police. He had fled an earlier traffic stop.