Cops are being charged:
"2 Albuquerque officers charged with murder in shooting" Associated Press January 13, 2015
ALBUQUERQUE — Two Albuquerque police officers were charged with murder in the March killing of a homeless camper, a shooting that generated sometimes violent protests around the city and sparked a federal investigation into a police force that has been found to use excessive force.
SWAT team member Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy will each face a single count of open murder in the death of 38-year-old James Boyd, Second District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Monday. Open murder allows prosecutors to pursue either first-degree or second-degree murder charges.
It's no longer funny.
Police said Perez and Sandy fatally shot Boyd, who was holding two knives, during an hourslong standoff in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Video from an officer’s helmet camera showed Boyd, who authorities say had struggled with mental illness, appearing to surrender when officers opened fire.
Are you sure they were not planted?
The case is a departure after grand juries declined to charge officers in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., and the chokehold killing of another unarmed man in New York City.
Sam Bregman, lawyer for Sandy, said the charge was ‘‘unjustified’’ and said Sandy did nothing wrong.
‘‘Keith, as a police officer, had not only the right, but the duty to defend a fellow officer from a mentally unstable, violent man wielding two knives,’’ Bregman said.
If the police kill you in AmeriKa, you deserved it. Case closed.
The FBI is investigating the Boyd shooting, but US authorities have not said if the officers will face federal charges.
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"Murder charges against police put New Mexico DA in spotlight" by Russell Contreras, Associated Press January 14, 2015
ALBUQUERQUE — For most of her career, Kari Brandenburg has been a low-key district attorney in New Mexico’s largest county.
But as police shootings have elicited huge protests nationwide, the Albuquerque Democrat took a rare step — charging two police officers with murder. Now she’s in the national spotlight, and she’s simultaneously battling bribery allegations from the same police force.
Not for long.
‘‘I’m going to let you guys speculate to that,’’ Brandenburg told reporters when asked if the bribery claims were efforts to prevent her from seeking charges. ‘‘I am not going to be intimidated. As long as I have a breath in my body, I will do what I think is right for the people that I represent.’’
It's called retaliation, and it's okay if authority does it.
On Monday, Brandenburg said she was seeking murder charges against Albuquerque SWAT team member Dominique Perez and former detective Keith Sandy for the shooting death of James Boyd, a 38-year-old homeless man.
Boyd, who authorities later said suffered from schizophrenia, was shot during a standoff in March in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Video of the shooting showed Boyd appearing to surrender before Perez and Sandy opened fire.
Attorneys for the officers say their clients did nothing wrong.
Brandenburg’s move to seek charges marked a major shift from her previous decisions not to go after Albuquerque officers linked to more than 40 police shootings since 2010. It also pointed to growing tensions between her office and the troubled Albuquerque Police Department, which suspects her of reimbursing burglary victims to protect her son.
Look, they are all thugs and crooks (of privilege, of course, so it's okay).
The district attorney said she had been working on the Boyd case before she heard of those allegations and her decision to seek charges was based on facts. ‘‘I think the motivation is pretty transparent,’’ she said.
No charges have ever been filed against her, and she denies any wrongdoing. The case has been sent to the New Mexico attorney general’s office, which has declined to comment.
The situation is unfolding not long after Albuquerque signed an agreement with the US Justice Department to overhaul its police force to address allegations of excessive force.
Elected in 2000 as the county’s first female district attorney, the 60-year-old Brandenburg was born in Albuquerque and came to office after spending most of her legal career as a defense attorney. Her father, Jim Brandenburg, held the same job from 1972 to 1976.
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Maybe she will charge them here, too:
"Albuquerque police shoot, kill suspect in body armor" Associated Press January 15, 2015
A day after?
ALBUQUERQUE — Police shot and killed a suspect they say was dressed in body armor and pulled a gun on them after a foot chase, an incident that follows a string of shootings that have prompted public protests, federal scrutiny, and even charges from a local prosecutor.
The latest shooting Tuesday came after the suspect fired on officers in an eastside neighborhood. Afterward, people near the busy area captured cellphone video, sharing it on social media and countering police versions of events.
Do the cops ever tell the truth in this country?
‘‘They need to quickly resolve these discrepancies,’’ said David Correia, a police critic and an American Studies professor at the University of New Mexico.
It was unclear why the suspect was wearing body armor.
Albuquerque police spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said she didn’t know when police would release more information about the shooting.
The shooting comes a day after a district attorney said she is seeking murder charges against two Albuquerque officers in the death of a homeless man.
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Haven't seen a thing since.
