"Public" Bodycam Still Secret: Black Milwaukee Cop Charged with Murdering Sylville Smith Waives Preliminary Hearing

From [HERE] A Black Milwaukee police officer accused of fatally killing a black man during a traffic stop waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday, erasing a chance for the public to see body camera footage of the incident.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown’s attorney, Steven Kohn, waived the hearing and entered a not guilty plea to the charge of felony reckless homicide for his client. Court Commissioner Barry Phillips ordered Heaggan-Brown to go to trial during the proceeding, which lasted less than five minutes.

Heaggan-Brown was charged last week in connection with 23-year-old Sylville Smith’s death in August. The criminal complaint, which alleges Heaggan-Brown fired the fatal shot even though Smith was unarmed, is based largely on footage from body cameras that Heaggan-Brown and his partner were wearing during the incident.

District Attorney John Chisholm has refused to release the footage publicly, calling it evidence. Outside court Friday, Chisholm said he had been prepared to play the video if the preliminary hearing had happened as scheduled. Chisholm added that he handed the footage over to Kohn.

The shooting sparked two nights of riots on Milwaukee’s predominantly black north side. Demonstrators burned six businesses and a squad car and threw rocks and bottles at police. One man was shot but survived.

According to the criminal complaint, Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, stopped Smith’s car on Aug. 13. Police never explained why his car was stopped and instead simply said the car was "suspicious." Smith tried to run away, and Heaggan-Brown and his partner gave chase. The complaint says body camera footage showed Smith was carrying a gun in his hand as he ran. 

Smith then fell to the ground, got up and raised his gun while facing Heaggan-Brown, according to the complaint. Heaggan-Brown fired and hit Smith in the arm, after which Smith then threw his gun over a fence. Heaggan-Brown told state agents the gun flew out of Smith’s hand, the complaint said.

Heaggan-Brown then shot Smith in the chest — both shots were fired within two seconds. Heaggan-Brown told agents he thought Smith was reaching for his waistband, although the video shows Smith reaching for his waistband after the second shot and that he was unarmed at that time, according to the documents.

Sedan Smith, Sylville Smith’s brother, said Friday that he wished Chisholm would have played the video.

“The public needs to see what type of police we have on the streets today,” Sedan Smith said. “(The second shot) wasn’t an act of fear. If it takes you time to again shoot someone … there’s a thought that goes into that. That’s premeditated. That’s execution.”

Fred Royal, president of the Milwaukee chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., criticized the white Mayor and police chief for not releasing the body camera footage. “To think that a community does not have the capacity to fully appreciate what they see on a video, in this day and age, is just egregious in my perspective,” Mr. Royal said.

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Looking for a "black male w/dreadlocks & white t-shirt,” White St. Paul Cops Turn Police Dog Loose on Random Black Man

White Cops had No Information about Build, Complexion, Hair length, Facial Hair, Age, Height, Special Characteristics, etc. From [HERE] On the evening of June 24, 2016 Frank Baker’s life changed.  At around 10:00 p.m., Frank, a 52-year- old longtime citizen of St. Paul, was driving home after work.  He parked his Jeep near his home and sat there alone talking on his cell phone.  Officer Brian Ficcadenti, who had been sent to the area to investigate a reported fight, arrived.  Instead of a fight, Ficcadenti saw Baker whom he claimed matched the description of one of the suspected fighters because he was “a black male with dreadlocks wearing a white t-shirt.”

Immediately after parking his squad car near Frank’s Jeep,  Ficcadenti let his K-9 partner, Falco – a large German Shepard, out of his squad car, and then ordered Frank out of the Jeep.  Frank complied.  Nonetheless, Ficcadenti unleashed Falco on Frank and the dog viciously attacked Frank from behind, tearing into the flesh, muscles and tissues of his leg.  While Falco dragged Frank around on the ground and continued to maul him, four more St. Paul police officers arrived.  One of them was Brett Palkowitsch.  While Frank was lying on the ground, Palkowitsch viciously delivered three kicks to Frank’s ribs as Falco continued to tear into Frank’s leg.  The kicks broke a number of Frank’s ribs and collapsed both of his lungs.  The three other officers stood by.  They did not intervene to stop either Palkowitsch or Falco from brutalizing Frank.

The horrifying incident was captured on video and can be downloaded here.

Frank was hospitalized for 14 days, had numerous surgical procedures and is left with life changing injuries to his lower right leg.  Frank’s contouring deficits and physical scarring are pictured below.  The psychological scarring is Frank’s constant companion.

St. Paul Chief of Police Todd Axtell visited Frank in the hospital.  Frank, hoping that Axtell would conduct a proper investigation, did not go public with his injuries.  Frank did not want to incite riots, protests or violence.  He did not want anyone else hurt.

Chief Axtell apologized to Frank on behalf of the City of St. Paul and held a press conference at which he publicly denounced the actions of the two officers.  Chief Axtell disciplined Ficcadenti for his conduct, noting Ficcadenti violated seven departmental policies including using excessive force.  Further information on the policy violations and the disciplinary actions taken are depicted in the Settlement Letter.   It has been reported that Palkowitsch is no longer with the Police Department.

These first steps taken by Chief Axtell show an intention to do what is right and to hold those responsible accountable.  These transparent actions were appreciated by Frank and by those watching across the nation.  Additional changes are still needed to ensure that something like this never happens again.  In particular, we hope to see the St. Paul Police Department implement training and policy modifications regarding: 1) choking off K-9 bites; and 2) requiring police officer intervention when they witness the excessive use of force.

Ft Worth White Cop Provokes & Then Assaults Black Women who Called 911 on White Man who Grabbed 7 yr Old

"Why Did You Teach Your Son to Litter?" -- 'Whats Wrong with the Neighbor Putting His Hands on Your Son?' Racists are the most provocative people in the world, they know how to push Black people's buttons - they know how to bring the nigger out. [MORE] Through our reactions we are dominated. Where would their kingdom be without us and our participation?

Who is the master here? Who is the reactionary? Bhagwan explains, 'to react means you are acting unconsciously. Somebody is manipulating you. Somebody says something, does something, and you react. The real master of the situation is somebody else. Somebody comes and insults you and you react, you become angry. Somebody comes and praises you and you smile and you become happy. Both are the same. You are a slave and the other knows how to push your buttons. You are behaving like a machine. You are an automaton, not a human being yet. A plaything in the hands of others.' [MORE] and [MORE]. 

From [HERE] A Facebook video posted by a Black woman Wednesday night regarding how a Forth Worth Police Department officer handled a 911 call is quickly gaining traction online.

The video posted on Porsha Craver’s Facebook account shows a white officer arresting her aunt and her two cousins, who said they called police for help. The video starts with a the white cop talking with the neighbor, a white man. Then the cop talks to the Black woman, Jacqueline Craig, who explains to the officer that her 7-year-old son was grabbed and choked by the neighbor for littering and “defying him” when he told the child to pick up the paper. The neighbor, seen standing by in the video, is a white man. The exchange immediately grows heated with Craig telling the officer that his question made her angry and the officer replying he would take her to jail if she continued yelling at him.

Craig, had called police Wednesday afternoon to report that a man had assaulted her son for littering, according to the woman’s relatives. Relatives said that a man in their southwest Fort Worth neighborhood had grabbed the boy by the neck in an attempt to get him to pick up the trash. [MORE] 

Race Soldier BART Cops Beat Handcuffed Black Man Laying on Stomach After White Passenger Makes False 911 Call

From [HERE] San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi has asked prosecutors on Wednesday to drop the remaining charges against a Black man who was violently arrested by white BART cops at the Embarcadero BART station in July.

Michael Smith, 22, was acquitted on four counts of battery on an officer last week, but the jury hung on two other counts of battery on a police officer, one count of resisting an officer and a lesser charge for battery. Prosecutors could still decide to retry the case.

Adachi is handling the case personally and says the case should spur a police reform. He has pointed the case as an example of racial bias in policing with officers overreacting to a fake report of a black man with a gun.

Smith was on BART with his girlfriend when they got into an racially tinged argument with a white man, Adachi said. The couple was trying to get away from the man who accused the woman of smelling bad when they got off the train at the Embarcadero Station. They met by officers with weapons in hand as soon as they got off the train. The man then called 911 accusing Smith of trying to rob him and having a gun.

Bystander video shows officers struggling with Smith and punching him in the head while he is pinned on his stomach. Smith was trying to protect his girlfriend during the confrontation, Adachi said. The woman was pinned on her stomach with an officer’s knee in her back.

Smith and his girlfriend both claim they were handcuffed. His girlfriend was pregnant at the time and ended up losing the baby a week or two after the incident.

Adachi and BART both released video of the incident which was caught on surveillance camera, officer body cameras and bystanders’ cameras.

The San Francisco public defender argued in court that BART police did not follow its own policy in handling situations involving a pregnant woman.

BART claims it is not part of its policy to handcuff pregnant women.

“When deciding whether to use any restraint, officers should carefully balance officer safety concerns with factors that include whether the person is known to be pregnant,” BART said in a statement. “Persons who are known to be pregnant should be restrained in the least restrictive manner that is effective to officer safety, and in no event shall these persons be restrained by the use of leg irons, waist chains, or handcuffs behind body.”

BART claims the woman was not visibly pregnant and the body cameras video proves that she was treated with respect.

[Government vs. YOU] $13 Million Settlement for Katrina/New Orleans Cop Murders & Cover-ups of Unarmed Black People

In photo, William Tanner's burned car, in which the remains of Henry Glover were found, on the banks of the Mississippi River. A white cop shot Glover, put him in the car and then set the car on fire while he was still alive. 

From [HERE] and [HERE] New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the city has reached a $13.3 million settlement over three police brutality cases from the weeks before and after Hurricane Katrina. The settlement covers 17 plaintiffs who brought different claims against the city, including wrongful death and personal injury claims. It comes eight months after six officers involved in the shootings -- two of them fatal -- pleaded guilty to their involvement in the shootings and the subsequent cover-up. Twenty New Orleans police officers were charged in connection with civil rights violations that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The cases include the most widely publicized instance of police brutality to emerge from Hurricane Katrina. While trying to escape the inundated city, 60-year-old Lance Madison’s developmentally disabled brother was shot and killed by police officers who open-fired with AK-47s on families crossing the Danziger Bridge in search of food following Hurricane Katrina. In an effort to cover up the murder, Madison himself was arrested and held for weeks, accused of attempted murder.

After finally being released, it would take another 11 years for Madison to get any kind of recognition from the city, to say nothing of justice. Speaking to the New York Times, Madison was mostly unmoved by the settlement. “I guess the only thing that ends is we don’t go back to court anymore,” he said. “It may be closure for them, but it will probably never be closure for me.”

Other plaintiffs in the settlement included the families of Raymond Robair and Henry Glover.

Robair, a 48-year-old handyman, was beaten to death by police officers near his home a month before the hurricane. Several of his neighbors said they saw Officer Melvin Williams approach Raymond Robair on the street in Robair's neighborhood and kick him in the side and beat him repeatedly with a baton, according to the Justice Department.

Officials said after the beating, Williams -- along with a second officer, Matthew Dean Moore -- placed an unconscious Robair into their police car and drove him to Charity Hospital.

According to a Justice Department release, witnesses at the trial said the two police officers falsely informed the hospital staff they found Robair under a bridge and all they knew was that Robair was a drug user. Based upon that information, the hospital treated Robair for a drug overdose rather than blunt force trauma. Robair suffered fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen as a result of the beating. He was pronounced dead within a few hours. [MORE]

His daughter, LaShonda Enclade, was in attendance for the mayor’s announcement. She said that she was ready to forgive the city, but she still struggled to forgive the officers themselves: “The word forgive is a very, very, hard word … I’m not going to say I can ever forgive them. It’s something to be worked on.”

Landrieu noted that as a result of the shootings on the Danziger Bridge and the beating of Robair, the police department is under the most comprehensive federal consent decree in the country. The mayor said that the police department has changed the way it hires, supervises and trains.

In September of 2005, Glover was severely wounded when a rookie police officer guarding a shopping mall in Algiers shot him. The officer did not help Glover, but a passing driver tried to, driving him to a temporary police outpost. Instead of administering first aid, the police there allowed Glover to die, then beat the driver of the car and two members of Glover’s family, left his body in the car, and lit it on fire so that it was unidentifiable except through DNA. Ultimately, three of the five officers who went on trial for the death and cover-up were convicted, although only one of their convictions still stands. [MORE]

Two police officers were convicted in the death of Robair, and five in the Denziger Bridge shootings — a further 11 pleaded guilty.

Stories like these led to widespread condemnation, and after taking office Landrieu invited the Justice Department to investigate and audit the New Orleans police department. What they found was damning and resulted in a federal consent decree — a mandatory reform that is still in effect — as well as charges for 20 police officers.

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What Happened on the Danziger Bridge? Public Servants Shot Down Blacks in Search of Food Following Hurricane Katrina

From [HERE]

The Danziger Bridge shootings were police shootings that took place on September 4, 2005, at the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana. Six days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, members of the New Orleans Police Department killed two civilians: 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison. Four other civilians were wounded. All of the victims were African-American. None were armed or had committed any crime. Madison, a mentally disabled man, was shot in the back.

New Orleans police fabricated a cover-up story for their crime, falsely reporting that seven police officers responded to a police dispatch reporting an officer down, and that at least four suspects were firing weapons at the officers upon their arrival. Rev. Raymond Brown, the local head of the National Action Network, described the shootings as "...a racial tragedy."

On August 5, 2011, a federal jury in New Orleans convicted five police officers of myriad charges related to the cover-up and deprivation of civil rights. An attorney for the Justice Department described it as "the most significant police misconduct prosecution [in the U.S.] since the Rodney King beating case". The convictions were vacated on September 17, 2013, however, because of prosecutorial misconduct, and a new trial was ordered. The Justice Department appealed the decision to vacate the convictions,  but a federal appeals court agreed that a new trial was warranted.  However, on April 20, 2016; the five former officers pleaded guilty to various charges related to the shooting, and in return received reduced sentences ranging from three to 12 years.

'Don't Say a Fuckin Word or You're Going to the Hospital': Corrupt White KC Cops Assault Handcuffed Latino Man

Starts at 5:30. From [HERE] Last October, white cops in Kansas City, Missouri arrested Manuel Palacio and in the process these public servants terrorized, threatened and assaulted him. The incident was captured on dash-cam video.

In the footage, KCPD officers Shannon Hansen and Jacob Harris pull up onto an Independence Avenue sidewalk and nudge Palacio with the front bumper of their squad car. (The cops claimed Palacio matched the description of a suspect in a nearby armed robbery. However, they did not explain how he matched the description. In the video he is walking with a black hoodie over his head.) The white officers jump out of the cruiser and scream at Palacio to get on the ground. He immediately complies, raising his hands in the air as he crouches onto the concrete. Hansen then punches Palacio repeatedly in the rib cage while Palacio is being cuffed. (In the video above, this starts at the 5:30 mark.)

The cops begin immediately searching through his pants pockets. Finding that Palacio has the stolen credit card, Hansen points to the man whom the credit card allegedly belongs to (who is by then present at the scene) and says, to Palacio, “You’re not only gonna get an ass-whuppin’ from us — you’re gonna get an ass-whuppin’ from him.” Hansen then says: “I’m giving him your address and your mom’s fuckin’ address and everybody’s address that you know, and I hope his family comes over and takes a fuckin’ ball bat to your head, motherfucker.” 

Harris later chimes in: “You don’t say another fuckin’ word. You sit there and you don’t open your mouth. You understand? Otherwise, you’re going to the hospital.” 

At no point during the arrest does Palacio resist.  Palacio subsequently filed a lawsuit against the KCPD, alleging that the officers had used excessive force. Last month, the department settled the case for $300,000. 

But another lawsuit, settled by the KCPD last week and reported here for the first time, reveals that the Palacio arrest wasn’t the first time that morning when officers Hansen and Harris had behaved violently toward a suspect. 

A mere hour before, the officers had pulled over Michael Simmons and a female passenger on an Interstate 435 on-ramp near Independence. Both are white. This encounter, too, was captured by the cops’ squad-car dash cam. 

In this video, Hansen approaches the car and without preamble yanks Simmons out by his arm and throws him to the ground. He drags him over the concrete and threatens to break Simmons’ arm off. Hansen calls the passengers “fucking meth-head motherfuckers” and, upon finding a needle on Simmons, says, “I’m going to take a knife and cut your throat from ear to fucking ear.” (In the video above, this starts at the 9:30 mark.) That is a "felony threat" in most states. 

On video, the officers search their car inside and out. The cops then acknowledge "neither one of them got shit" and "they are clean as a whistle," "they don't have any warrants" and the car "has valid plates that are legally licensed to the car" (at about 19:30)  The officers then figure out how to justify the illegal stop, search and arrest. The cops state they will arrest for "disorderly conduct" and create "two tickets." The cops then impound the car.

As the scene unfolds, Hansen repeatedly ridicules the passenger for allegedly being high on meth, taunting her with a tweaker-like impression. The other officers on the scene laugh. 

Such behavior comes at a small price: a $75,000 settlement to Simmons for enduring the abuse. White supremacy[degeneracy]/racism is big business. 

Fresno Settles Suit for $2.2 Million. White Cop Fatally Shot Unarmed Latino Man in the Back 3x, Laying on the Ground

From [HERE] The city of Fresno has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the parents of a Latino man who was fatally shot by police four years ago.

With the settlement comes major changes for the Fresno Police Department, said Oakland attorneys Michael Haddad and Julia Sherwin, who represented the parents of Jaime Reyes Jr., 28, who was shot while climbing a fence at Aynesworth Elementary School in southeast Fresno in the afternoon of June 6, 2012.

Haddad said Tuesday that if the lawsuit had gone to trial, the evidence would have shown that Officer Juan Avila shot Reyes near the top of the fence. Once Reyes toppled to the ground, Avila shot him three more times in the back as he lay wounded, face down on the ground, Haddad said.

In the settlement, the city does not admit to any wrongdoing by its officers. The suit was filed seeking unspecified damages. Fresno police have shot at least 30 people since January 2012, killing 17. [MORE]

Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer, a racist suspect [minister of justice in photo], acknowledged that the city has agreed to review policies and recommend any appropriate minor changes. The city, Dyer said, “has always felt that this tragic shooting was legally justified and settlement should not be viewed as an indication that this view has changed.”

According to Dyer, Reyes was a gang member under the influence of methamphetamine who fled from officers while carrying a stolen handgun into a schoolyard occupied by children. “However, circumstances unrelated to the actual incident have dictated that it would be economically sound for the city to settle this matter before incurring the costs of trial,” he said. Blah blah blah. 

Haddad disagreed with Dyer’s assessment of facts. He said Reyes never pointed a gun at the officers nor threatened them. After he was fatally shot, officers found a gun in Reyes’ shorts pocket, but the firearm was unloaded and wrapped in a plastic bag.

City officials agreed to the settlement on Nov. 18 in U.S. District Court in Fresno. As part of the settlement, Haddad said the Fresno Police Department has agreed to change its use-of-force policy. Before, officers could shoot a suspect if he posed an imminent threat. “Fresno police have a unique interpretation of what ‘imminent threat’ means,” Haddad said. To police, it means a pending threat or a threat in the near future, Haddad said.

The settlement mandates that Fresno police are only allowed to shoot a suspect if the suspect poses an “immediate threat,” or a threat at this very moment, Haddad said.

Sergeants and patrol officers also will be trained to “assess every shot,” Haddad said. This way, an officer doesn’t fire extra bullets when the situation doesn’t warrant it, Haddad said, noting that Reyes was incapacitated with the first shot, therefore he didn’t need to be shot three more times in the back.

In addition, the settlement requires additional training for homicide detectives and the police Internal Affairs officers. The training will require them to consider statements by witnesses that contradict statements by officers at the scene. In the Reyes shooting, a female witness said she “saw an execution,” Haddad said.

The federal lawsuit filed against Fresno police by Reyes’ parents tells a different account than the police version of events. 

The lawsuit accused Avila of failing to give Reyes any warning before shooting. Avila also fired two separate sets of shots. The first bullet wounded Reyes. Avila then fired from the other side of the fence, hitting Reyes as he lay motionless and posed no threat to police, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also says Avila and his partner denied first aid to Reyes. Instead, the officers frisked him for weapons and handcuffed him. About 20 minutes passed before paramedics arrived to take Reyes to a hospital. He died during surgery.

The city decided to settle, Haddad said, after a police officer said in a deposition that there was a pause between Avila’s first shot and his next three. If the city hadn’t settled, Haddad said he would have been able to show the jury evidence of other police shootings that he contended were unlawful.

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$50 million lawsuit filed against DC MPD: Homeland Security Cameras May Have Captured Cop Shooting Black Man in the Back as he Fled

FOX 5 has learned a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in the fatal police-involved shooting of Terrence Sterling. Sterling was shot and killed by D.C. police on Sept. 11 while riding his motorcycle during the early morning hours in Northwest D.C.

The $50 million lawsuit was filed in D.C. Superior Court Thursday on behalf of Sterling's family against Brian Trainer, the officer who allegedly shot Sterling, an unidentified officer working with Trainer that morning, the Metropolitan Police Department and the District of Columbia.  

According to police, two officers in a police cruiser spotted Sterling riding recklessly and attempted to pull him over near the 3rd Street Tunnel. Police say an officer fired at Sterling after he rammed his motorcycle into the police vehicle. Sterling was unarmed.

The medical examiner ruled Sterling's death as a homicide and that he died from gunshot wounds to the neck and back. According to a press release from the law firm representing the Sterling family in the lawsuit:

"The complaint alleges that Metropolitan Police officer Brian Trainer shot Mr. Sterling in the back, killing Mr. Sterling from the safety of a police vehicle despite the fact that Mr. Sterling was unarmed and posed no danger to Officer Trainer or any other person. 

"The complaint alleges that Officer Brian Trainer and his partner violated multiple Metropolitan Police Department General Orders in the moments leading to Mr. Sterling’s death. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that General Order 301.03 prohibits officers from placing themselves in front of an oncoming vehicle where deadly force would be the likely outcome. In spite of this General Order, officers unlawfully placed themselves in front of Mr. Sterling’s oncoming motorcycle.

"Additionally, the complaint alleges that General Order 301.03 also prohibits officers from intentionally causing contact between their police vehicle and a civilian’s vehicle, or attempting to force a civilian vehicle into another object or off the roadway. The officers violated this Order by intentionally blocking Mr. Sterling’s path of travel, causing contact with his motorcycle, and trapping his motorcycle between the police car and the curb. While Mr. Sterling was trapped between the curb and the police car, Officer Trainer unlawfully drew his gun, pointed it at Mr. Sterling, and shot him, using deadly force in violation of General Order 901.7. 

"The complaint alleges that each of these violations independently caused the death of Terrence Sterling."

Trainer was identified as the D.C. police officer who fired his weapon. City officials say he was wearing a body camera, but failed to turn it on until after the shooting. The body camera footage that was recorded would later be released by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

"An additional claim alleges that Officer Trainer committed battery by using excessive force in shooting and killing Mr. Sterling. Inexplicably, there is no video from Officer Trainer’s body camera because the Metropolitan Police Department and the District of Columbia failed to properly train and supervise Officer Trainer and all MPD officers on the required use of body cameras and the appropriate use of force," the press release continued. "As a result, Officer Trainer did not activate his body camera to properly document Mr. Sterling’s death, which has deprived the Sterling family of valuable evidence depicting the circumstances leading to Mr. Sterling’s death."

In November, prosecutors with U.S. Attorney’s Office opened a grand jury investigation into this case.

The Rioters Had It Right: White Milwaukee Police Chief Withheld Camera Footage. Black Man Unarmed when Shot 2nd Time by Cop Charged with Murder

[Racists Tell Half Truths All the Time. White mayor in August after police murder.] From [HERE] and [HERE] A Black Milwaukee police officer fatally shot a Black man in August just after the man had thrown his gun away and lay on the ground unarmed, the authorities said on Thursday as they charged the officer with homicide.

The officer, Dominique Heaggan-Brown, 24, killed Sylville K. Smith, 23, seconds after Mr. Smith fled on foot after a traffic stop. The shooting set off two nights of rioting here.

Police officials have said that Mr. Smith was carrying a stolen handgun with a large-capacity magazine, and that he pointed it at the officer before the officer fired. But the criminal complaint filed on Thursday gives a somewhat different picture, based on video recorded by body cameras worn by Officer Heaggan-Brown and his partner. That video has not been made public.

The criminal complaint says the Black man was unarmed when the officer fired the shot that killed him. The complaint says the body-camera video showed Smith was on the ground, unarmed and had his hands near his head when Heaggan-Brown shot him a second time in the chest.

Specifically, in the video, Mr. Smith “turns his head and upper body toward the officers,” according to an investigator’s affidavit cited in the complaint. “He then raises the gun upward while looking in the direction of the officers and throws the gun over the fence into the yard.”

As Mr. Smith was raising the gun, the complaint says, Officer Heaggan-Brown fired his own weapon, the bullet passed through Mr. Smith’s arm and Mr. Smith fell on his back. “Heaggan-Brown is observed standing a short distance from Smith with his weapon pointed down at Smith when Heaggan-Brown discharges a second shot from his weapon,” the complaint says.

Mr. Smith was hit in the chest.

The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office charged Mr. Heaggan-Brown, who was fired in October, with first-degree reckless homicide, which is punishable by up to 60 years in prison. The case was investigated by the State Department of Justice.

Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, shot Smith following a traffic stop on the city’s north side. Police have not offered any legal jusitification for the traffis stop. 

[The media has painted this police brutality episode as a Black on Black incident. Elite whites and their media hope you will buy what they work so hard at selling - that Black on Black violence and any other Black on Black hate going on in other contexts has nothing to do with white supremacy/racism. What's really real is that a Black cop would never do this shit to a white person and apparently never has. In reality, 'the black on black criminal is a white racist in black skin - a person who has internalized white racist attitudes and has identified with his victimizers and expresses his victimization by victimizing other black people. Filled with self hating venom, his behavior reflexts the absence of an appropriate black and african identity.' [MORE]. Black on black violence is a result of white supremacy. In all contexts a Black government servant programmed in service of white domination is just as dangerous as a racist.] [MORE]]

Police Chief Ed Flynn, who is white, said shortly after the shooting that the incident began when police stopped a suspicious rental car. Smith bolted from the vehicle and ran through a residential neighborhood. Heaggan-Brown gave chase and opened fire after Smith turned toward the officer and began to raise his gun despite Heaggan-Brown’s warnings to drop it, Flynn said. The police have not explained what made the vehicle suspicious and why it was stopped. 

The neighborhood where Smith was killed is predominantly black. Heaggan-Brown grew up there and has lived near the shooting scene since at least 2012.

Police didn’t release either man’s race the day of the shooting. That night, the neighborhood erupted in violence. Demonstrators burned six businesses and a police squad car. 

Flynn released more details the following day, including Heaggan-Brown’s race and that his body camera showed Smith was armed. But Flynn didn’t release the video and more violence broke out that night. Protesters again threw rocks and bottles at police, and an 18-year-old man was shot and injured. Police arrested about 40 people over the course of the three nights. 

Fred Royal, president of the Milwaukee chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., criticized the white Mayor and police chief for not releasing the body camera footage. “To think that a community does not have the capacity to fully appreciate what they see on a video, in this day and age, is just egregious in my perspective,” Mr. Royal said.

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