"Cleveland to pay $3 million over police shooting" Associated Press November 19, 2014
CLEVELAND — The relatives of two people killed in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire in 2012 will split a $3 million settlement from the city of Cleveland, the attorney for one of the families said Tuesday.
They deserve every penny and more.
Thirteen Cleveland police officers fired into the victims’ car after a high-speed chase, killing 43-year-old driver Timothy Russell and 30-year-old passenger Malissa Williams in a parking lot. Both were unarmed.
Was there a white-black component, and how come none of these other incidents raise the hackles of the pre$$ like Ferguson?
Russell family attorney Terry Gilbert said the settlement of the federal lawsuit helps avoid long and expensive litigation.
City spokesman Dan Williams said ‘‘the settlement speaks for itself.’’
More than 100 officers and 60 police cars, including some driven by supervisors, were involved in the chase [which] began when officers patrolling near a homeless shelter on the edge of downtown Cleveland thought they heard a gunshot. Investigators later said it was likely that the officers heard Russell’s car backfiring. That sparked a 20-mile chase that lasted 23 minutes and reached speeds of 110 miles per hour....
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Related: Car Chase Led to Killings in Cleveland
So explain to me again why the taxpayers are forced to pay the tab rather than the murderous cops responsible?
I mean, once the murderous thugs start being held re$pon$ible this conduct will stop.
Of course, law enforcement never breaks the law and is never wrong:
"Two men freed after judge dismisses 1975 Ohio case" Associated Press November 22, 2014
CLEVELAND — Two men imprisoned for nearly four decades walked free on Friday after being exonerated in a 1975 murder because the key witness — a then-13-year-old boy — recanted his testimony.
Earlier a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge dismissed the cases against Ricky Jackson, 57, and Wiley Bridgeman, 60. The witness recanted last year and said Cleveland police detectives coerced him into testifying that the men, along with Bridgeman’s brother, killed businessman Harry Franks on May 19, 1975....
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We are seeing this more and more across AmeriKa, and it makes you realize the $y$tem of ju$tu$ has been just that.
"Witness recants, freeing Ohio man after 39 years" Associated Press November 20, 2014
CLEVELAND — A man who spent nearly four decades in prison after being convicted of murder is expected to be freed Friday after a witness confessed he lied as a boy when he told jurors he saw the deadly attack.
Why did he lie?
Ricky Jackson had been seeking a new trial and sobbed with his face in his hands as prosecutors dismissed his case Tuesday, The Plain Dealer reported.
‘‘I can’t believe this is over,’’ Jackson, 57, said, thanking his supporters and his lawyers from the Ohio Innocence Project.
Jackson was serving a life sentence for aggravated murder and other charges, according to state prison records.
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Time to celebrate!
"Off-duty police officer fatally shot at Ohio pub" Associated Press November 17, 2014
AKRON, Ohio — An off-duty officer was fatally shot early Sunday at a pub in northeast Ohio after he approached a patron who was described as ‘‘unruly’’ and was carrying a firearm, police said.
I've learned the hard way it is never advisable to get in the middle of a bar fight.
Four other people also were shot at the Papa Don’s Pub in Akron at about 2 a.m., Police Chief James Nice said. One of the victims was another off-duty officer who was grazed by a bullet.
So it was a COP BAR, huh?
The suspect fled on foot but was caught in a nearby field about an hour later with the help of a police dog....
Related:
"It seemed like a sure win for investigators, who have gone after dogfighting with greater interest ever since NFL star Michael Vick pleaded guilty in 2007 to bankrolling a dogfighting ring and other charges, eventually serving 18 months in prison. The three largest dogfighting busts in US history have occurred since 2009. But the ancient blood sport is thriving in the underground, with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake on big matches."
It's a ‘‘much bigger problem than people realize,’’ says law enforcement, with an ‘‘absurd amount of money involved’’ in the comeback of the business (never mind about the trillions in bank fraud).
Of course the answer is always more laws when the existing ones are not adequately enforced.
Also see: Military Still Staring at Goats
I blinked first.
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Am I supposed to feel sorry for the thug?
You won't after this NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Boy with fake gun dies after shot by Ohio officer" Associated Press November 24, 2014
CLEVELAND — A 12-year-old boy who was shot by police after grabbing what turned out to be a replica gun died from his wounds Sunday, a day after officers responded to a 911 call about someone waving a ‘‘probably fake’’ gun at a playground.
Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon, which was lacking the orange safety indicator usually found on the muzzle, from his waistband but had not pointed it at police.
Then it was justified. The police no longer have to discern danger or anything else.
It's FIRE AWAY FIRST and ABSOLUTION of CONSEQUENCE LATER!
The boy did not make any verbal threats but grabbed the replica handgun after being told to raise his hands, Tomba said. ‘‘That’s when the officer fired,’’ he said.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner identified the boy as Tamir Rice. An attorney for his family, Timothy Kucharski, said the boy went to the park with friends Saturday afternoon, but he did not know the details of what led to the shooting.
‘‘I don’t want to make a rush to judgment,’’ he said.
The Police Department is investigating the shooting and both officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure. The county prosecutor’s office also is investigating.
Kucharski said he wants to talk to witnesses himself and get more facts.
Police said the weapon was an ‘‘airsoft’’ type replica that resembled a semiautomatic handgun.
A man who called 911 told dispatchers the boy was on a swing set and pointing a pistol that was ‘‘probably fake’’ and scaring everyone.
The caller said the boy was pulling the gun in and out of his pants.
‘‘I don’t know if it’s real or not,’’ the caller said.
Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake.
So that justifies blowing a kid away? They didn't know so BLAM, BLAM!!!?
Did they issue a warning? Was the kid shot in the back?
The officer who was called to the playground outside a city recreation center saw the pistol sitting on a table or bench and watched the boy grab it and put it in his waistband, Follmer said.
Cleveland police have been under increased scrutiny. The Justice Department has been investigating their pursuit and use of force practices.
That vague afterthought of a paragraph gets you back to the top of this post.
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Reminds me of Milford, except this time the dead are real.
