The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Jacob]

Has there been any kind of excuse made for the violence? Like "he was assisting arrest" or "he looked like a dangerous criminal we were looking for" or anything like that? Or even "he was insufficiently deferential, so we decided to punish him"?

What did those cops think they were doing? Or was it even in their minds nakedly pure "we're cops and feel like kicking the shit out of a random black man, so that's what we'll do"?

[Habbaku]

Has there been any kind of excuse made for the violence? Like "he was assisting arrest" or "he looked like a dangerous criminal we were looking for" or anything like that? Or even "he was insufficiently deferential, so we decided to punish him"?

What did those cops think they were doing? Or was it even in their minds nakedly pure "we're cops and feel like kicking the shit out of a random black man, so that's what we'll do"?

Haven't seen anything excusing it, so much as the insane right-wingers criticizing people "over-worried" about it in comparison to Ashli Babbit.

[jimmy olsen]

Has there been any kind of excuse made for the violence? Like "he was assisting arrest" or "he looked like a dangerous criminal we were looking for" or anything like that? Or even "he was insufficiently deferential, so we decided to punish him"?

What did those cops think they were doing? Or was it even in their minds nakedly pure "we're cops and feel like kicking the shit out of a random black man, so that's what we'll do"?

The initial press release was the same old passive voice bullshit. (Paraphrasing) The suspect resisted arrest, there was a confrontation where he was subdued, he suffered breathing problems and was promptly taken by an ambulance to a hospital where he unfortunately passed away.

[jimmy olsen]

The initial statement
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/police-report-contradict-video-tyre-nichols/index.html

[The Larch]

This is reaching pantomime villain status.

California police kill double amputee who was fleeing: 'Scared for his life'

Anthony Lowe's family says they want to see Huntington Park police prosecuted: 'I'm heartbroken and filled with rage'


A southern California police department is facing national backlash after footage revealed that officers fatally shot a double amputee and wheelchair user who appeared to be hobbling away on the ground before he was killed.

Anthony Lowe, 36, was killed by officers in Huntington Park, a city in southern Los Angeles county, last Thursday. Cellphone footage captured part of the incident, showing Lowe on a sidewalk next to his wheelchair appearing to try to flee as two officers approach him with weapons drawn. More police cars arrived as the officers followed Lowe, who seemed to be limping away, but the video did not capture the shooting.

Now, Lowe's family is calling for officers to be terminated and face murder charges.

[Valmy]

Are the police going insane? These guys are making the dudes who beat Rodney King look like reasonable professionals lately.

[Syt]

More details on the story:

https://time.com/6251814/anthony-lowe-jr-death-huntington-park-police/

Everything We Know About the Police Killing of Double-Amputee Anthony Lowe

The Jan. 26 police shooting of a 36-year-old, double amputee in southeastern Los Angeles is the latest killing of a Black man to set off protests over excessive and lethal violence by U.S. law enforcement.

Activists and the family of Anthony Lowe Jr. took to the Huntington Park Police Department headquarters on Monday to condemn the killing. "They murdered my son in a wheelchair—with no legs," Lowe's mother Dorothy said.

Last week, five police officers were charged with second-degree murder for beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols in Memphis—leading to his death days after. Protests broke out across the U.S. following Nichols' death.

What is the police's account of the Lowe shooting?

In a Jan. 30 statement, the Huntington Park Police Department said its officers were responding to a stabbing on the afternoon of Jan. 26.

The stabbing victim described his attacker as a man in a wheelchair. The attacker allegedly "dismounted the wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of the chest" with a "12-inch butcher knife," before fleeing the scene in the wheelchair.

In the search for the assailant, they located the alleged suspect, later identified as Lowe, a few blocks away, holding a knife. Huntington police said its officers attempted to detain the man, but authorities said he ignored verbal orders and "threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers." They also said they tasered the suspect twice.

"The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, resulting in an officer-involved shooting," the statement read.

The L.A. Sheriff's Department said on Friday the suspect was shot in the "upper torso," and "was treated on scene by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics and pronounced dead."

What has happened to the police officers involved?

The police officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave per protocol, according to the Huntington police.

The Huntington Park Police Department, Homicide Bureau of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, and the L.A. County District Attorney's Office are investigating the shooting.

What do we know about Lowe?

Yatoya Toy, Lowe's sister, told the Los Angeles Times that her brother's legs were amputated last year after an altercation with law enforcement in Texas. TIME could not verify the details of that incident.

Lowe had two teenage children, and he lived in South Los Angeles, according to the L.A. Times.

The mother of one of Lowe's children, Ebonique Simon, described him to CNN as a "loving, caring father." She also told CNN that Lowe was "dealing with a lot of depression" over the loss of his legs.

A spokesperson for the family told CBS News that Lowe was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was shot.

What has the reaction been so far?

A grainy video of the incident, which TIME could not independently verify, is circulating online, appearing to show Lowe, dismounted from his wheelchair, hobble away from two police officers as he carries what appears to be a large knife. A police car then blocks the view.

The L.A. Times reported Sunday that Lowe's sister identified him in the video. It also said that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department collected video from a nearby establishment, though it does not intend to release the footage.

Cliff Smith, an organizer with the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, called on L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón to prosecute the officers involved. "We want specific justice," he said at the press conference outside local police headquarters Monday.

Lowe's mother Dorothy said, "This situation is worse than George Floyd. When these videos go out, it's going to be all bad."

The family has not commented on Lowe's alleged involvement in the stabbing incident.

[grumbler]

Suicide by cop?

[viper37]

Mississipi: Police shooting 11 year old boy

11-year-old Mississippi boy who was shot by responding police officer after calling 911 is released from the hospital


An 11-year-old Mississippi boy who was shot by a police officer after he called 911 for help is recovering after being released from the hospital, according to his family.

The family is calling for the officer to be fired and charged with the shooting.

Aderrien Murry was shot in the chest by an Indianola Police Department officer early Saturday morning while the officer was responding to a domestic disturbance call at the child's home, according to his mother, Nakala Murry, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Murry told CNN that the father of another of her children arrived at her home at 4 a.m., "irate."

Concerned about her safety, Murry asked Aderrien to call the police.

Murry said the officer who arrived at the home "had his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside." Murry said her son was shot coming around the corner of a hallway, into the living room.

"Once he came from around the corner, he got shot," Murry said. "I cannot grasp why. The same cop that told him to come out of the house. (Aderrien) did, and he got shot. He kept asking, 'Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?'" she said.

The shooting happened within what felt like "one to two minutes" after the officer asked those in the house to come outside, Murry said.

The boy was given a chest tube and placed on a ventilator at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson after developing a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver because of the shooting, his mother said. He was released from the hospital Wednesday. CNN has reached out to the hospital.

Two other children, including Murry's daughter and 2-year-old nephew, were also in the home at the time of the shooting, she said.

Body camera footage has not been released

Murry's family attorney Carlos Moore told CNN the incident was captured on police body camera.
The attorney said his request for the body camera footage was denied due to "an ongoing investigation."

The body camera video of the incident has not been released publicly.

Moore also said he was told there is video of the incident from a nearby gas station.

The Indianola Police Department confirmed that the officer involved in the shooting is named Greg Capers but did not provide any additional details on the shooting, telling CNN the police chief was unavailable.

CNN reached out to Capers for comment but did not immediately hear back.

On Monday evening, the Indianola Board of Aldermen voted to place Capers on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, according to the family attorney.

In a statement over the weekend, the MBI said the agency is "currently assessing this critical incident and gathering evidence" and would turn over its findings to the state attorney general's office after the investigation is complete.

On Wednesday, MBI spokesperson Bailey Martin declined to answer additional questions, telling CNN in an email, "Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further comment will be made."

CNN has contacted the District Attorney's Office for the Fourth Circuit Court and the Mississippi Attorney General's Office for comment.

Family angry police officer remains employed by department
Murry said that after her son was shot, she placed her hand on his wound to apply pressure as he "sang gospel songs and prayed while bleeding out." The officer, she said, tried to help render first aid and placed his hand on top of hers to try to stop Aderrien's bleeding.

When an ambulance arrived, medics were "very attentive," she said.

"Aderrien came within an inch of losing his life," Moore said. "It's not OK for a cop to do this and get away with this. The mother asked Aderrien to call the police on her daughter's father. He walked out of his room as directed by the police and he got shot."

Murry said police told her that her daughter's father was taken into custody later in the day on Saturday but eventually released because she had not filed a police report against him.

"When was I going to have time to do that? I was in the hospital with my son," she said, reacting to the news of the man's release from custody.

Four days after the shooting, Murry told CNN that "no one came to the hospital from the police station" nor had she spoken to any police investigators about the shooting.

"I'm just happy my son is alive," she said through tears.
Moore told CNN that he is furious that Capers remains employed by the Indianola Police Department.

"We believe that the city and the officer should be liable to Aderrien Murray, for the damages they have caused," the attorney said.

Moore said they will hold a sit-in protest at the Indianola City Hall on Thursday morning.

Indianola is a small, mostly African American town with 31% of the population below the poverty line. It lies in the Mississippi Delta, about 100 miles north of Jackson.