Black Man Beaten Unconscious for Six Weeks Files Suit Against Tennessee Jail

A Sullivan County man allegedly beaten into unconsciousness while detained at the Sullivan County Detention Center has filed a $1 million federal lawsuit against the county and sheriff's department. Nathaniel Robinson filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greeneville earlier this month naming Sullivan County and the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department as the defendants. According to the complaint, Robinson began serving an 18-month sentence in March 2006 on a probation violation and a failure to appear charge. In August 2006, Robinson was placed in a cell with 35 to 40 other inmates, with him being one of two African-Americans in the cell. Robinson claims the other inmates in the cell were of a "skinhead faction" and that deputies placed him in the cell "to bestow some sort of prison justice" onto him. The lawsuit states shortly after being placed in the cell, the other African-American inmate was removed, and one of the Caucasian inmates began spouting racial slurs to Robinson. Other inmates soon joined in on the racial slurs and threats to Robinson, the lawsuit states. Robinson said he attempted to alleviate his "ever increasing" fear by telling the other inmates he did not want any trouble. However, the harassment grew stronger and eventually Robinson said he was struck in the back of the head by one of the inmates and beaten. "When Robinson came to, he was lying on the floor of the cell, unaware of what had just taken place," the lawsuit states. Sheriff's deputies removed Robinson from the cell and placed him in a holding cell with another inmate. At that time Robinson said he began feeling dizzy and nauseous, and his head was in excruciating pain. The lawsuit states Robinson blacked out and lay on the cell floor for approximately three hours without receiving any medical attention from deputies or medical personnel. Eventually, Robinson states he was transported to Indian Path Medical Center, where he woke up six weeks later, unaware of exactly what had taken place.  The lawsuit states that Robinson remains under a doctor's care and to date has sustained $385,940 in medical bills.Robinson claims the sheriff's department failed to properly train and supervise its law enforcement personnel, deliberately placed him into a harmful and threatening situation, and neglected his injuries following the attack. Sullivan County and the sheriff's department have a well-documented history of violating the civil rights of inmates, the lawsuit alleges. "This history can only be attributed to either a severe lack of training, supervision and understanding of the law or a blatant disregard of the law and the rights of inmates," the lawsuit states. [MORE]

Family Of Shot Black Teen says Fort Lauderdale Police Shot Unarmed 15 Year Old in the Back

 

(CBS4 [HERE]) FORT LAUDERDALE The family of a teen that was shot during a struggle with a police officer is pondering whether or not to file a lawsuit against the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

The family has hired the law firm of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley to investigate the actions of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Lawyers held a news conference on Tuesday to discuss a significant case that they are investigating on behalf of Dwuan Crooms and his family.

The 15-year-old boy, who remains in critical condition at the Broward General Medical Center, was shot during a struggle with a Fort Lauderdale police officer Jason Hersh late Friday night following a two county car chase.

"There does not seem to be any evidence that there was any struggle and that there was any necessity for the police officer to us force, deadly force, to shoot Dwuan the way he did," said Darryl Lewis, an attorney for the Crooms family told reporters on Tuesay.

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Handcuffed Black Man Battered by Seven Philadelphia Cops - Caught on Video

The Philadelphia Police Department is looking into allegations of police brutality as surveillance video has some saying officers went too far.

The man they subdued ended up injured in the hospital.

On the videotape, roughly seven police officers are involved in the incident. Philadelphia police are promising a full and thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, the man's attorney is promising a civil lawsuit.

A man said he received injuries while being arrested by Philadelphia Police. The man, Kyle Byrd has a broken rib, fractured left arm, a blood clot, cuts and bruises.

And his lawyer said a surveillance tape proves those injuries were caused by police while his client was handcuffed.

"Anyone with common sense knows that this is police brutality," Attorney Cary McCain said.

The incident happened after Byrd had been drinking and had a fight with his live-in girlfriend at their apartment in the 1900 block of Judson Street.

McClain, Byrd's lawyer, said the alleged beating is the most egregious part of the alleged assault on his client.

"One of the most dangerous spots in the video was the initial time he's taken handcuffed and slammed to the ground on head on the sidewalk and he hits the left portion of his head and is handcuffed," McCain said.

His attorney said Byrd was unconscious for a short period of time. But he says the alleged attack resumed after he came to and lasted 10 minutes.

"During that 10 minutes, the officers take a baton at one point, an officer is using over head strikes with a baton, approximately eight times. So hard, that at one point in time the baton is knocked out of the officer's hand. Not one officer comes by and administers any sort of help to him," McCain said.

There were several witnesses at the scene.

"Yeah they were too violent. Trust me they was too violent," one witness said. [MORE]

Chicago Police Allegedly Beat Down 11 Year Old Black Boy

An 11-year-old Chicago boy claims an off-duty Chicago police officer beat him during a fight in a park on the city's South Side. That confrontation happened last weekend.  Now the Chicago Police Department's Office of Professional Standards is investigating the claims. This allegedly began as a simple playground disagreement between two boys. But Donna Moore says it led to her son having to make a trip not only to the police station but to the hospital for minor injuries. She says he received those injuries at the hands of an off-duty Chicago police officer. Donna Moore says her 11-year-old son is afraid to go out of the house ever since a confrontation at a playground in the 9400-block of S. Leavitt over the weekend. It was a confrontation that turned into an alleged attack by the father of another boy Donna's son had an argument with, a father who was an off-duty police officer. Corliss Vaughn was driving by and says she witnessed the incident and rushed out of her car. "I don't know what the young man did, but what he did did not deserve all those punches. He's just a young kid. This is a grown man punching a young kid," said Vaughn. Other witnesses suggest the officer was trying to detain the boy until uniformed officers arrived to handle the disagreement. That is not the way Donna Moore saw it. She says she arrived before the uniformed officers to see the man holding her son, who was scared. "He started beating me up, like she said, and doing like were doing a wrestling match," said the alleged victim. Ms. Moore says the man told her he was an officer and refused to release her son. "A grown man can come up on a child and beat a child and then hide behind a badge?" said Donna Moore, mother. [MORE]

Fort Lauderdale Police Shoot & Beat Down Unarmed 15 Year Old Black Teen After Chase - Critical Condition

 

Police and family members searched for answers the day after an officer shot a 15-year-old whom he mistakenly thought was driving a stolen car.

A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was shot by a Fort Lauderdale police officer during the pursuit of a vehicle thought to be stolen but later determined to be a different car.

Dwuan Crooms is connected to a ventilator at Broward General Medical Center. His uncle, a Plantation firefighter, said Crooms has a collapsed lung and kidney, liver damage and internal bleeding.

"We haven't really heard the whole story yet," uncle Shaun Sands said. "We've heard bits and pieces here and there." Crooms, a student at William Dandy Middle School, was shot on Interstate 95 late Friday night after what police said was a violent struggle with the teenager.

"There had been reports that the suspect was shot in the back and I must stress to you that this information is also inaccurate," Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Frank Sousa said at a news conference. "At this point in the investigation, we can confirm that the shot entered the top of the suspect's shoulder area, not in the back."

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UNARMED 15 Year Old Black Boy Shot Dead by Dallas Transit Police

A Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer shot and killed an unarmed 15-year-old boy who police said leapt from the bushes and attacked an officer at an Oak Cliff light-rail station early Sunday morning. It was the first fatal shooting by a DART police officer in the department's 18-year history, officials said. On Sunday afternoon, Dallas police called it an act of self-defense by Officer Niksha Owens, who feared for her life as she watched Bobby Walker attack her colleague and ignore warnings to back down. "According to the witnesses, when this man – this young child – was attacking the DART police officer ... he yelled profanities and said he was going to kill her," said Dallas police Senior Cpl. Janice Crowther. "He repeatedly said he was going to kill her." But Bobby's distraught mother, Temeka Walker, said Sunday night that police used excessive force against her son. "They could've at least held him down," said Ms. Walker, 30. "Mace him. Hit him." Ms. Walker said Bobby, a Carter High School freshman, took medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and ran away from home Thursday, as he had several times in the past. She said she called Dallas police several times, but they would not issue a missing-person alert because of his history of running away. The fatal confrontation with the DART officers lasted less than a minute, police said. About 3:20 a.m., Officer Owens and Officer Stephanie Branch were walking on the platform of the station at Ledbetter Drive and Lancaster Road in east Oak Cliff when Bobby attacked Officer Branch, Cpl. Crowther said. "When the suspect attacked Officer Branch, he did grab her around the neck and grab her around the arms and she felt like he was attempting to take her weapon," Cpl. Crowther said. "She was able to push him off and then ask him, give him verbal commands, to stop his attack and to get down." Officer Owens drew her weapon and both officers continued to ask Bobby to back down, Cpl. Crowther said. He refused and Officer Owens shot him once in the neck, police said. Bobby was pronounced dead at Methodist Dallas Medical Center about 4 a.m., DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said. The officers were not injured, he said. Dallas police Sgt. Gary Kirkpatrick, who is investigating the shooting, said there is no indication Bobby was armed. Both DART officers were put on administrative leave with pay, pending an internal investigation, as is customary in police-involved shootings, Mr. Lyons said. Both officers have been with the department for about two years and do not have any prior disciplinary records, Mr. Lyons said. [MORE]

Some questions about the 15 year-old shot and killed by DART police officer
By Shawn Williams

Another young black male has died at the hand of gunfire, this time by a Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police officer. 15 year-old Bobby Walker was fatally shot around 3:20 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Ledbetter Station near the VA Hospital.

According to Monday's Dallas Morning News article, the Carter High freshman "leapt from the bushes" and attacked DART officer Stephanie Branch before being shot by officer Niksha Owens. Walker was pronounced dead at Methodist Dallas Medical Center about 4 a.m.

I don't want to rush to any judgments here, so I have a few questions:

1. Did the 2nd officer try to physically intervene before resorting to fatal gunfire?

2. Did the shooting officer at any point feel as if she had a non-fatal shot at the suspect without endangering the officer?

3. What is a 15 year-old boy doing out at 3:20 a.m.?

4. Shouldn't two police officers generally be able to subdue one juvenile suspect?

5. What was the ethnicity of the two officers? It ALWAYS matters.

I will reserve commentary for a later date , but for now I pray for the families of Bobby Walker and the officer who fatally shot him. [more]

No Reason to Charge Cops: Fatal Vista shootings of Four Unarmed Latino Men by San Diego Deputies Justified, state report says

Four fatal shootings by San Diego Sheriff's deputies in Vista in 2005 were legally justified, the state Attorney General's Office said Monday in a report that backed up conclusions reached earlier by local prosecutors.

The report concluded that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis did not abuse her discretion when she determined that the shootings of four Latino men were lawful. The shootings occurred between March and August 2005, and none of the deputies involved were prosecuted.

In February, a coalition of Latino groups and civil rights groups asked the attorney general to examine a review by Dumanis of the shootings.

The groups contended that county prosecutors, who review all officer-involved shootings, were not independent enough from local law enforcement to give an unbiased look at the incidents.

But, after spending two months reviewing the district attorney's work, state officials came to the same conclusion.

“We found all the shootings justified,” said Gary Schons, the senior assistant attorney general for the San Diego region. “If any of these cases had been presented to us first, we would have not have issued (charges) in any of them.”

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Springfield Case Settled: Five White Police Officers Beat & Choked Black School Principal Having Diabetic Seizure

Black Man Driving BMW Dragged Through Window Gets $180,000; Police Admit No Liability - Still Employed

The city of Springfield reaches a settlement with a black school principal who was allegedly attacked by five white police officers.

Douglas Greer was pulled from his car by the officers in January 2005 as he was having a diabetic attack while parked at a convenience store.

Greer, who at the time was the principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, says the officers kicked and choked him and accused him of being on drugs.

One of the officers in his original report said police were trying to restrain Greer as he thrashed and screamed before he was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Greer is now principal at the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, according to the state Department of Education's Web site.

One of Greer's lawyers, Perman Glenn III, hailed the $180,000 settlement as a "step forward in exposing and combating police brutality in Springfield." But under the agreement, the city and police officers admit no liability.

About a month after the incident involving Greer, the city's police commission voted not to pursue disciplinary action against the officers. All five officers are still in the police department, said city attorney Edward Pikula.
The Department of Education Web site indicates Greer is now principal at the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield. [MORE] and [MORE] and [MORE]

LA Mayor Condemns Police Violence Against Demonstrators at Immigration Rally

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa condemned the Police Department's use of force against demonstrators and reporters at an immigration rally, saying he was ``deeply, personally troubled'' by the clash.

The mayor returned home Friday after cutting short a trade mission to El Salvador and Mexico amid criticism for being out of town since Tuesday's melee at MacArthur Park.

``Like every Angeleno I was deeply, personally troubled by the events of May 1st,'' the mayor said at City Hall. ``Those images hit me in the gut.

``... We don't need a long and lengthy investigation to stand up and speak to the truth. What happened on May 1st was wrong, was wrong,'' he said.

Police struck reporters and demonstrators with batons and fired more than 240 rubber bullets into a crowd that included children at the end of an immigration rights rally. Officers say they responded after being pelted by rocks and bottles.

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