Activists Call for Congressional Help in Battle with Louisville Police

Civil rights activists, outraged by a white police detective's acquittal in a black teenager's death, have asked congressional black leaders to look into race relations.  The activists also threatened demonstrations that would fill jail cells with protesters if the police officer, McKenzie Mattingly, successfully appeals his firing by the city's police chief. The city remained calm after Mattingly was cleared Wednesday night of murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide charges by a Jefferson County Circuit Court jury consisting of 10 whites and two blacks. Mattingly, 31, shot 19-year-old Michael Newby three times in the back on Jan. 3 when an undercover drug bust went awry. Activists said they were not surprised by the verdict, but said it demonstrated that the justice system is not colorblind in the city. They accused prosecutors of a halfhearted effort in the case.  The Justice Resource Center, a civil rights group headed by Coleman, prepared a letter for the Congressional Black Caucus requesting hearings delving into race relations in Louisville. [more]

• Mayor, Chief Say Mattingly Won't Be Reinstated; Merit Board Has Final Word [more ]
• Mattingly's Wanton Endangerment Charge Could Be Thrown Out Today. The Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney will announce Monday whether he plans to pursue a wanton endangerment charge against former Metro police detective McKenzie Mattingly. A jury cleared Mattingly Wednesday on the most serious charges against him, including murder, in the shooting death of Michael Newby, 19, after an undercover drug deal turned violent. [more ]
• Over the past 7 Years at least 10 Black or Latino Men have been Killed by Louisville Police. No Officers have been Convicted [more]

Judge Allows Wrongful Death Suit to Proceed in Police Shooting of Larry Jenkins

A federal judge has ruled that a wrongful-death suit against a Milwaukee police officer should go forward. U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller ruled this week that a jury should be allowed to decide whether officer Jon Bartlett used excessive force when he shot and killed Larry Jenkins. Bartlett shot Jenkins, who was not armed, seven times on Sept. 19, 2002. Jenkins, who was a passenger in a car stopped for traffic violations, ran away from police and got into another car. Police said he then tried to run over the officer. Jenkins' family argues that the car was barely moving and that Jenkins, 31, was not in control of it. Assistant City Attorney Susan E. Lappen had asked Stadtmueller to throw out the suit. Stadtmueller agreed with some of Lappen's arguments and dismissed a claim that former police Chief Arthur Jones failed to properly supervise and train Bartlett. However, Stadtmueller said genuine issues of fact remain for a jury to decide. [more ] and more

Jurors rule police officers used justified force in fatal shooting of Sonnier

 A Fayette County coroner's jury ruled that police were justified in using deadly force against a man who allegedly ran down one officer and tried to run down two others. Kermith Sonnier Jr., 37, of Brownsville, died May 5 from one of four shots fired by either Redstone Township police Captain H. Dennis Field or Brownsville officer Autumn Fike, authorities said. The bullet was too deformed for ballistics to conclusively link it to a specific gun, according to testimony at Thursday's coroner's inquest. But Field has told investigators he fired three .45-caliber shots - two as Sonnier's truck passed by, and one into its tire after it stopped so the truck couldn't travel in reverse. Fike fired one from her .40 caliber weapon. The bullet that killed Sonnier was a .45 caliber slug, testimony showed. Neither officer testified at the inquest. Sonnier was chased by Fike when he sped away from an officer who tried to talk to him while he was parked in an area known for drug activity. Sonnier drove into some woods at one point and turned his truck around and ran down Fike, authorities said. Field then fired his gun. The victim's father, Kermith Sonnier Sr., said he still believes his son was murdered and questioned bruises and other injuries found on his son. A coroner determined those injuries weren't from a police beating, but likely occurred as much as 24 hours before Sonnier died.[more ] and [more ]

• Victim's family critical of inquest proceedings [more ]

Pittsburgh DA Dragging his feet in Police Slaying of Black Man

Relatives of Hill District resident Bernard Rogers, who was shot by a Pittsburgh Housing Authority police officer in 2002, yesterday reiterated their frustration with District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. because he has not decided whether to press charges in the case. Until Zappala decides whether to prosecute officer Tonyea Curry, the Rogers family said federal investigators won't consider doing so. And until the potential criminal case is resolved, the family can't pursue a civil complaint, members of the Rogers family said yesterday.The FBI began a federal civil rights investigation into Rogers' death on Dec. 19, 2003. Rogers, 26, was confronted by Curry and two other housing authority officers on Nov. 15, 2002 inside the Bedford Dwellings housing complex. Rogers and Curry scuffled before at least three shots were fired, according to Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht. Wecht found that Rogers was shot in the chest by one bullet. Police said the shooting occurred during a struggle in the living room. Witnesses have said Rogers was shot by another officer as he ran down the complex's stairwell.

Yuba City Sikh trucker cleared - Fake Terrorist Hysteria is Silenced

The Douglas County, Ore., District Attorney's office won't pursue a weapons charge against a Yuba City Sikh truck driver stopped along Interstate 5 on Sept. 1, according to an attorney familiar with the case. Amardeep Singh, an attorney with the Sikh Coalition who represented Gurpal Singh Gill, said efforts to educate the court and the district attorney's office about Sikhism paid off. "It was really a combined effort," said Singh, who pointed out that the Sikh Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Department of Justice helped resolve the case with the district attorney's office. Gill was cited last month by an officer along Interstate 5 near Roseburg, Ore., for carrying a concealed weapon for the religious knife he wore at his side. The officer confiscated the knife, called a Kirpan, a religious symbol for Sikhs that protected by the constitution. [more

Jackson Police Photographing Black Residents

Blacks Stopped, Questioned and Photographed
Jackson native Donald Wilkes recalls being stopped four years ago by an officer who questioned why he was walking through the Lambuth neighborhood after 1 a.m. ''A police officer stopped to ask me could he help me,'' said Wilkes, 53. ''I told him 'no' and kept walking. When he stopped me, he asked me what I was doing, then said he was going to take my picture.'' After a 10-minute discussion with the officer, Wilkes said he would not allow the officer to take a photo of him. ''I think when he realized that I knew my rights, he finally backed off,'' Wilkes said. Although they haven't been charged with a crime, some local residents are stopped, questioned and even photographed by Jackson Police Department officers. That information is kept on file. The practice is called a field interview and law enforcement officials are standing by it, despite some local concerns about racial profiling and statistics that show that three out of every four such photos taken in recent months were of black citizens, most black males. According to statistics provided by JPD, a total of 369 photos were taken from June to September of this year alone. Of those, 281 (76 percent) of the people photographed were black, while 88 (24 percent) were white. Out of 17 crime categories, the highest number of photographs were taken for reasons of ''suspicious circumstances.'' Of the 118 photos taken, 75 percent were of blacks. In burglary investigations, 92 percent of the 62 photos were of blacks. [more ]