I'll Bet America Pays Attention To This One!!

I think now, finally, a large part of the American population is going to sit up and demand answers, and not just about this case, but now they're going to start asking about all the cases; they're going to start looking at what we've been seeing (and talking about) for years: the nationwide problem of police officers who are too quick on the trigger, who are of the mindset that that gun on their hip gives them the right to do whatever to whomever they like with impunity, and in a lot of cases, who should never have been on the force period because of their stereotypical notions about 'class' (caste?). Yes, I said class; not race, although that can play a role, but IMO class is the trigger that set off this avalanche of needless deaths.  They put on these blue uniforms, and they become a class unto themselves, one which many of them feel is above and better than everyone else. They feel that as the 'superior class', it is up to them to contain and correct the lower classes, and this is why you'll find all races, genders, and age groups represented in the complete picture, if you don't put any filters on your Search. You'll even find the mentally ill and the physically-challenged! (Of course the numbers are still going to be way skewed, with more blacks being killed than any other group.)

Here's the story that started my rant though:

           Questions Remain Surrounding Fatal Minnesota Police Shooting

•  By AMY FORLITI AND JEFF BAENEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

   MINNEAPOLIS — Jul 18, 2017, 10:32 AM ET
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An Australian woman who called 911 to report what she believed to be an active sexual assault was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer in a case that has left many relatives and neighbors searching for answers.

Justine Damond, aka  Justine Ruszczyk,  seen in 2015 photo

released by Stephen Govel Photography of New York, 6/17/17

There were no known witnesses other than the two officers in the squad car. A newspaper report said Damond was shot while standing alongside the car in her pajamas.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office on Monday night said Damond died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and classified her death as a homicide. The report identified her as Justine Ruszczyk, but she had begun using her fiance's last name professionally ahead of their planned August wedding.

Her fianc?, {sic} Don Damond, said the family has been given almost no additional information.

Justine, her fiance Don, and
her stepson Zach

Friends & neighbors leave msgs of love

"We've lost the dearest of people, and we're desperate for information," he said. "Piecing together Justine's last moments before the homicide would be a small comfort as we grieve this tragedy."

Damond's family in Sydney issued a statement Monday saying they were trying to come to terms with the tragedy and understand why it happened. On Tuesday, her father spoke out publicly for the first time.

"We thought yesterday was our worst nightmare, but we awoke to the ugly truth and it hurt even more," John Ruszczyk told reporters. "Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death."

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said early Tuesday that she too wants answers.

"I have the same questions everybody has: 'What happened?'" Hodges said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the shooting. In a statement Monday, the BCA said more information would be provided once the officers have been interviewed.

The BCA said no weapons were found at the scene.

The officer who shot Damond was identified by his attorney as Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American. A city newsletter said he joined the police department in March 2015.

The attorney, Tom Plunkett, released a statement saying Noor offered his condolences to the family "and keeps them in his daily thoughts and prayers."

"Officer Noor is a caring person with a family he loves, and he empathizes with the loss others are experiencing," the statement said.

Noor was sued earlier this year after a May 25 incident in which he and other officers took a woman to the hospital for an apparent mental health crisis. The lawsuit claims Noor and the other officers violated the woman's rights when they entered her home without permission and Noor grabbed her wrist and upper arm. Noor relaxed his grip when the woman said she had a previous shoulder injury, the lawsuit says.

KSTP-TV reported that city records show Noor had three complaints on file. The station did not provide details on the nature of the complaints, but said one was dismissed with no disciplinary action and the other two are pending.

The Star Tribune, citing three people with knowledge of the shooting, said the officers pulled into the alley in a single squad car, and Damond talked to the driver. The newspaper's sources, which it did not name, said the officer in the passenger seat shot Damond through the driver's-side door. A BCA spokeswoman did not return messages seeking to confirm that account.

Neighbor Joan Hargrave called the killing "an execution."

"This is a tragedy — that someone who's asking for help would call the police and get shot by the police," Hargrave said.

Officials said the officers' body cameras were not turned on and a squad car camera did not capture the shooting. Investigators were still trying to determine whether other video exists.

It's not clear why the officers' body cameras were not on. The department has phased in body cameras for all of its officers over the last year. Department policy allows for a range of situations in which officers are supposed to turn cameras on, including "any contact involving criminal activity" and before use of force. If a body camera is not running before use of force, it's supposed to be turned on as soon as it's safe to do so.

Once the investigation is complete, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman would decide whether to charge the officer. Freeman would not comment on the broader case Monday, but said both officers likely should have turned on their body cameras as they were approached by Damond in an alley.

Officials said the officers' body cameras were not turned on and a squad car camera did not capture the shooting. Investigators were still trying to determine whether other video exists.

It's not clear why the officers' body cameras were not on. The department has phased in body cameras for all of its officers over the last year. Department policy allows for a range of situations in which officers are supposed to turn cameras on, including "any contact involving criminal activity" and before use of force. If a body camera is not running before use of force, it's supposed to be turned on as soon as it's safe to do so.

Once the investigation is complete, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman would decide whether to charge the officer. Freeman would not comment on the broader case Monday, but said both officers likely should have turned on their body cameras as they were approached by Damond in an alley.

Damond's business website indicates she relocated to Minneapolis and worked as a yoga instructor, meditation teacher and personal health and life coach.

Originally trained as a veterinarian, Damond indicated on the site that she was "most passionate about supporting individuals and organizations to discover the power and potential within their own brains and hearts."

Nancy Coune, administrator at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community in Minneapolis, said Damond came to Minneapolis about three years ago to be with her fianc?, {sic} and she had been teaching and speaking at the center for more than two years.

Damond's mother was Australian, and she spent her formative years there, but also spent some of her early childhood in the Buffalo, New York, area, said Peter Suffoletto, a cousin of Damond's father.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the blog's owner, and in no way express the views of Blogger or Google. 

UPDATE: Defendant in Walter Scott Death To Be Retried After Mistrial Declared

Before you read this post, I have to offer a disclaimer so that you won't think I'm any crazier than you already do. Or perhaps so that you won't think I'm newly crazy... Anyway, several months ago I began having trouble with Blogger (again) and have been  unable to correct the issue. I'm tired of taking hours to get out a post (or days) and have it still not be correct. So, I'm just posting this the way it is; perhaps someone will be able to help me correct it. (I do know some HTML 5/CSS 3)  The issue is the font; if you notice, in some places it's sentence case while in others it's all uppercase. I didn't do that, when I wrote it everything was in sentence case. When I hit Preview though, it all changed....
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Well hallelujah,  democracy lives! I won't say 'justice', because we haven't seen that yet, but I'm praying  for it! Especially in this case, where they have it on videotape that the man was running away from the police officer after a traffic stop and the officer pulled  his gun and shot the man in the back, then placed a Taser by his dead body. His claim was that he was in fear for his life because the man running from him might have turned around and charged the officer!!!

"Slager testified that even at 18 feet away, Scott still posed a threat to him and could have turned around and charged him."

So he didn't shoot because the man was turning around, fumbling at his waistband, yelling threats, none of the usual dumb excuses; he shot because he thought the man who was obviously so scared that he was running away might turn around (at 18 feet  away) and charge him. Meaning the man  might run back the 18  yards he'd gained and attack the officer. If he was scared enough to run in the first place, why does this guy think we're going to believe that he thought the runner might turn around and come back? Nah, don't wash with me officer, no way. You shot him because he was 18 feet away already and gaining ground with every step, and you couldn't let it be said that you lost him because he outran you, so you took him down. (Of course that's JMHO)

Here's the story for you to read yourselves.

Walter Scott Cop To Be Retried for Murder in 2017

Ex-officer Michael Slager will again face a state jury trial for shooting Scott in the back beginning on March 1.

BY: The Root Staff

POSTED: December 30, 2017

Michael Slager testifies at his trial for killing of Walter Scott

The former North Charleston, South Carolina police officer charged in the murder of motorist Walter Scott will be retried on March 1, 2017, reports CNN.

A state judge declared a mistrial in the case earlier this month, after jurors could not unanimously reach a decision to convict.

Although Slager was caught lying about the April 4, 2015, encounter, in which video captures him shooting Scott several times in the back and placing his Taser near Scott’s body, the jury failed to reach a guilty verdict after four days and more than 24 hours of deliberation.Of the 12 jurors, 11 black and one white, one juror, in a note, said he couldn’t vote for a conviction and wouldn’t change his mind, despite the fact that the judge on the case allowed the jury to consider a lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. Prosecutors charge that Scott, a father of four, ran after Slager stopped his car for a broken taillight because he feared going to jail for unpaid child support. They assert that Slager pursued and killed Scott even though his life was not in danger.

Slain father of four, Walter Scott

An emotional Slager testified that even at 18 feet away, Scott still posed a threat to him and could have turned around and charged him.

If convicted of either charge, Slager faces 30 years to life in prison.

Additionally, Slager is being tried in federal court on May 1, 2017, according to CBS News. In the federal case, Slager is charged with violating Scott’s rights under the color of law, lying to investigators and using a firearm in a violent crime. For those charges, he faces a term of life in prison. Read more at CNN and CBS News.

And Here We Go Again....

It just doesn't seem to end!  Every time  there's another event, I think to myself  "enough is enough, it's got to end now";  but it doesn't end. Not only does another one happen, it's usually one that makes me open my mouth in incredulity at the brutality of it, as well as the stupidity. Sometimes I wonder just what kind of excuse they're going to come up with to try to rationalize their actions , or if they're even going to bother with one at all.  After all, how do you rationalize two officers suddenly just starting to shoot at a man who is sitting at a table eating fried chicken and fries? Even with the "rusty pocket knife" allegedly in his hand, he was sitting,  eating a plate of food! They couldn't have tased him or something? Where was the danger, the threat to their lives?

#DeEscalateDontKill: Black Man Fatally Shot by Florida Cops in His Own Backyard

In the last year, there has been a hashtag directed towards law enforcement all over the nation: #DeEscalateDontKill.

But the police in Broward County, Fla., must have missed the memo.

The Broward Palm Beach New Times reports that police responded to a domestic disturbance call on Friday night and shot and killed a man who was holding a pocket knife—a “rusty pocket knife”—in his own backyard.

The tragedy was set in motion at about 10 p.m. after Gregory Frazier’s sister called 911 because he was arguing with his niece.

By the time police arrived, Frazier, 56, was planted in the backyard of his Pompano Beach home eating chicken wings and fries with a small Swiss Army-style pocket knife in his hand.

The outlet reports that Frazier’s nephew, Quartaze Woodard, says three deputies showed up and told Frazier to get down on the ground. Frazier responded, “Leave me alone.” The deputies repeated the order. Again, Frazier asked them to leave him alone.

Moments later—not one, but two—deputies from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office opened fire. The New Times reports that neighbors say Frazier was hit between five and six times in the back.

Then, after handcuffing him, and removing the handcuffs once they realized he was non-responsive, police attempted to perform CPR. But it was too late.

As per departmental policy, the deputies were placed on paid administrative leave.

“Yes, he had a pocket knife. A rusty pocket knife,” said sister Deborah Frazier to the Miami Herald. “I believe those three cops could have sat down, talked to him, used Tasers, anything, to constrain him.”

She added to the New Times, “I never would have called the cops if I’d known this was going to happen. They just came in and started shooting right away.”

Read more at the Broward Palm Beach New Times and the Miami Herald.