Suit Claims Sumter Cops Murdered Unarmed, Surrendered Black Man by Shooting Him 17X in the Back at Close Range

From [HERE] and [HERE] and [HERE] The sister of a Black man who was killed by Sumter police (South Carolina) after a car chase claims in a lawsuit that three officers shot her unarmed brother 17 times in the back — as he lay on the ground.

Waltki Cermoun Williams "did not have a weapon" and was struck in total by 19 of the two dozen shots fired at him during the deadly confrontation on Dec. 10, according to a lawsuit filed in Sumter County.

The lawsuit alleges that Williams' death was caused by grossly negligent and reckless actions of the city and police department which failed to properly train and supervise officers in the standards and procedures involved during a pursuit and the use of deadly force.

35-year-old Williams reportedly had an altercation with his girlfriend at a mall. Police came to the scene, and a car chase ensued from Sumter Mall on Broad Street to the intersection of Miller Road and Guignard Drive, where Williams' vehicle crashed into another vehicle. He crawled out of a window. According to the lawsuit, police then fired 17 shots into his back even though he was unarmed.

The race of the officers who filed the fatal shots was not specified in the court papers and they have not been identified. in photo above, racist suspect, Sumpter Police Chief Russell F. Roark.  

Police, in a news release, said they were responding to reports that "a female was afraid to go outside of the mall after an estranged boyfriend threatened to kill her and was seen outside pointing a firearm at her vehicle."

Police claim "Williams got out the vehicle, a short foot chase followed." The police statement states, "there was a brief struggle and then an exchange of gunfire, the details of which are under investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division."

However, there's are two eyewitnesses who saw it.

Photo above is from the Sumter Police official web page. 

The lawsuit lays out a different scenario — and there is no mention of any exchange of gunfire.

According to the lawsuit, Williams threw an object through the rear glass window of the vehicle and exited through that area. He then ran approximately 10 steps before he was tackled by officers and driven to the ground.

Williams "did not have a weapon and he was not a threat in any way," the lawsuit states.

"While on the ground the decedent did not have a weapon and he was not a threat in any way to the police officers on the scene," the suit states. "One of the officers moved away from the decedent (while he was still laying on the ground and not moving) and at least three (3) Sumter Police officers made the conscious decision to utilize inappropriate and improper use of deadly force by firing their service weapons indiscriminately at least twenty-four (24) times directly at and into the decedent.

The lawsuit states Williams was struck by at least 19 bullets - 17 of which went into his back. The plaintiff claims to have been informed that six bullets exited the chest; one bullet exited the right side of the neck; and other bullets struck the upper and middle portion of the left arm.

"Additionally, firing their weapons 24 times at close range at an unarmed man lying still on the ground is so extreme and outrageous that it shocks the conscious (sic)," according to the lawsuit.

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Trial set for Palm Beach Cop Who Lied About Murdering Black Man Waiting for Tow Truck on Side of the Road

From [HERE] The trial of a Florida police officer who fatally shot a black man broken down on a highway has been scheduled for October.

Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer set an Oct. 30 date Tuesday for the trial of 39-year-old former Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja.

Raja is charged with manslaughter and attempted murder for shooting 31-year-old Corey Jones, a drummer who was returning home from a performance when his SUV broke down on Interstate 95 before dawn in October 2015. Raja was fired after the shooting.

Raja was not in uniform and never identified himself as a police officer before opening fire on the motorist, prosecutors said — a direct contradiction to the arrested officer’s story. An audio recording shows that the cop lied over and over about what happened. 

Audio reveals the officer, who was investigating car burglaries, was immediately aggressive with Jones and began barking commands at him without ever saying he was with the force.

Jones was leaving a late-night gig on Oct. 18, 2015 when his car broke down on the side of I-95. The 31-year-old musician called AT&T roadside assistance for help, and the call was still connected when Raja, who is of South Asian descent, exited an unmarked white van and approached the stalled car.

That recording captured the exchange between the two men.

“You good?” Raja, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, asked.

Jones said he was fine, prompting Raja to ask “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jones replied, according to the audio.

Suddenly, Raja became belligerent, and started yelling at Jones.

“Get your f-----g hands up! Get your f-----g hands up!” he shouted as Jones pleaded “hold on, hold on!”

“Get your f-----g hands up! Drop!” Raja screamed again before firing two shots, prosecutors said.

Jones began running down an embankment and into the grass as Raja fired several more shots, killing him. Jones' unfired gun was found about 75 feet from his SUV. Jones' body was found another 125 feet away.

In a 911 call that prosecutors say Raja placed about 30 seconds later, the officer yelled for Jones to drop his gun — even though they say he knew Jones had been hit and was dying on the ground. Jones’ family said he had recently purchased the gun to protect the expensive drum gear in his vehicle's trunk and had a permit for the weapon.

But about four hours after the shooting, Raja voluntarily sat down with a Palm Beach County sheriff's detective and recounted the shooting.

He claimed that he walked up to Jones’ van thinking it had been abandoned, and he was surprised to find Jones inside.

"The door swung open and, uh, this guy jumps outside immediately," Raja told the investigator. "He got out of the van and then he's like, 'I'm OK, I'm OK man.' And at which point I said, 'Hey, man, police, can I help you?'”

Raja claimed that when he identified himself as a cop, Jones became violent.

“And the second I said police, he jumped back and I clearly remember him drawing and...pointing a gun at me,” he said. "It's just like, you know, your family flashed in front of you, your kids flashed in front of you.”

He said he ordered Jones to drop the gun and then fired when he didn't. [MORE]

Suit Claims Plainclothes Norwalk Cops Unlawfully Stopped Black Man w/o Identifying Themselves & Assaulted Him Causing Brain Injury

From [HERE] and [HERE] A judge announced it will allow a police brutality case against four Norwalk police officers to move forward. Cody Greene, a Black man, suffered from the alleged beating by public servants in July of 2014.

His attorney filed a $10 million lawsuit in Federal court against the City of Norwalk and four Norwalk police officers alleging civil rights violations. The 19-page lawsuit alleges that police officers violated Greene's civil rights and caused a series of injuries, some of which were deemed permanent. In addition to the City of Norwalk, defendants are police officers Steven Luciano, Felipe Taborda, Adam Mulkern, and Julio Rodriguez.

The action is being brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 42 U.S.C. 1988 and the first, fourth, fifth, eighth, and eighteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

According to the lawsuit to be filed, Greene was visiting a friend at 16 School St. when a black vehicle with tinted windows pulled up next to him and the four defendants, all dressed in black exited the vehicle and began asking him questions.

"At no point in time did the individual defendants identify themselves as police officers, nor were the individual defendants wearing and/or displaying any clothing or badging that identified them as such. At that point, and for no reason, defendant Mulkern attempted to 'pat down' the plaintiff."

The complaint further alleges that the fearful plaintiff ran from the scene and the police officers engaged in a foot pursuit. During the foot pursuit, the suit further alleges that a gun was pointed at Greene and he was Tasered.

"The plaintiff tired, Tasered, and staggering fell with his arms outstretched ...Thereafter Defendant Luciano rolled the Plaintiff over on his back, placed his knees on the Plaintiff's outstretched arms, sat on the Plaintiff's chest, and beat the Plaintiff's head and face numerous times with closed fists and elbows," according to the complaint.

According to a police report dated July 19, 2012 police say: "We were dressed in black Raid type uniforms with 'POLICE' in bright yellow letters, making us immediately identifiable as Norwalk Police Officers."

His attorney, Phil Russell said, "Cody was accosted by four people in civilian clothes who demanded he submit to a search. When he ran away, he was chased and when he was caught he was Tasered and beat up...His injuries are prodigious and are outlined in the complaint. They are life-altering injuries and this is a tragedy."

Among the injuries to Greene claimed in the complaint are: Left orbital fracture, left upper and lower jaw fractures; fractured nose and septum; left eye hemorrhage; hemorrhage in posterior temporal lobe of brain; cerebral concussion and traumatic brain injury; stuttering disorder; post traumatic stress disorder; nerve damage to face and nose; post traumatic headaches and insomnia; facial numbness, impaired balance and gait; and deficits in attention, concentration, word finding, detail orientation, and short term memory.

The lawsuit alleges that, "The Plaintiff's injuries, or some of them, will be permanent in nature and/or permanently disabling."

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[racism is done by deception &/or violence] White Miami Cops Claim Latino Man Resisted Arrest but Video Shows Otherwise

From [HERE] A man's family claims he was the victim of excessive force when he was arrested by undercover Miami-Dade police officers in an incident that was caught on camera.

Rafael Gonzalez-Miranda, 22, was arrested Tuesday on charges of resisting an officer with violence and battery on an officer.

The arrest report says officers were doing narcotics surveillance on 131st Place in southwest Miami-Dade when they saw two men buying drugs. That's when they say Miranda pointed at the undercover car letting the two men know they were being watched by undercover cops. The two men ran away leaving the teen alone to the face police officers, and the encounter was caught on surveillance camera.

Gonzalez-Miranda's father said the cops abused his son, and hired an attorney. The family believes their son didn't do anything wrong and was simply outside his home.

"It looks like absolutely excessive force, we can all see that from the video," defense attorney Harvey Watnick said. "I'll be looking into whatever there might be that is not on the video."

Miami-Dade police claim Gonzalez-Miranda was resisting arrest. The department issued a statement Thursday saying it "strives to provide professional service and remains committed to its core values of Integrity, Respect, Fairness and Service. The details involved in this incident are stated within the Arrest Affidavit and the proper departmental documentation has been completed. Anyone that feels they have not been treated in a professional manner is urged to contact our Professional Compliance Bureau."

Gonzalez-Miranda was given a $5,000 bond and has been released from jail.

Suit says Fairfax Cty White Cop Unlawfully Stopped Black Man Walking Down Street, Ordered him to Turn Around & Tasered Him in the Back

From [HERE] A federal judge said a lawsuit against Fairfax County that alleges a white police officer used excessive force can move forward.

The September 2015 incident showing an officer using a stun gun on Elton Cansler was recorded by witnesses on their cell phones in a shopping plaza in the Franconia area of Fairfax County.

During a hearing on Friday, the judge referred to the video calling it "pretty clear evidence" documenting what happened.

“I'm feeling good that everything is going forward,” said Cansler.

The lawsuit filed by Cansler and his attorneys states that the amount of force used by Officer Alan Hanks was excessive. “The suit alleges a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights,” said Maxwelle Sokol, Cansler’s attorney.

Those rights guarantee a reasonable amount of force during an arrest. The portion of the lawsuit states that department policies violate those constitutional protections.

One of the witnesses who took the cell phone video said at the time after the 2015 incident, “The gentleman just happened to be walking down the sidewalk and the cop pulls up in front of him, tells him to turn over, and as soon as he has his back turned towards him, he tases him. He didn’t see it coming.”

Several days after the incident, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler held a press conference clearing Officer Hanks of any wrongdoing and saying he complied with policy.