Here's What Happens to Police Officers Who Shoot Unarmed Black Men

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/heres-what-happens-police-officers-who-shoot-unarmed-black-men



***SNIP

Let's take a closer look at five specific cases in which an unarmed black man was killed by officers while allegedly fleeing or resisting in some fashion.

City: Memphis, Tennessee
Date: October 1974
Officers: Elton Hymon and Leslie Wright
Victim: Edward Garner
What happened: Officers Hymon and Wright were responding to a burglary call when Hymon spotted Garner, an unarmed 15-year-old, by a fence in the backyard of the home in question. After Hymon ordered Garner to halt, the teenager tried to climb the fence. In response, the officer shot him fatally in the head. A federal district court ruled that the shooting was justified under a Tennessee statute—the law said that once a police officer voices intent to arrest a suspect, "the officer may use all the necessary means to effect the arrest." Garner's father appealed, and the case ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled the Tennessee statute unconstitutional and the killing unjustified. Justice Byron White wrote for the majority: "It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. It is no doubt unfortunate when a suspect who is in sight escapes, but the fact that the police arrive a little late or are a little slower afoot does not always justify killing the suspect. A police officer may not seize an unarmed, non-dangerous suspect by shooting him dead." Despite the reversal, the officer who shot Hymon was never charged.

City: Bronx, New York
Date: December 1994
Officer: Francis X. Livoti
Victim: Anthony Baez
What happened: Officer Livoti choked to death 29-year-old Anthony Baez in a case that would later be featured in a PBS documentary titled Every Mother's Son. After their football struck his patrol car, Livoti had ordered Baez and his brother to leave the area. When the brothers refused, Livoti attempted an arrest. After Baez allegedly resisted, the officer administered the choke hold that ended his life. Livoti, who had been accused of brutality 11 times over 11 years, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, but found not guilty during a state trial in October 1996. He was fired the following year, however, after a judge ruled his choke hold illegal. In June 1998, a federal jury sentenced him to 7.5 years in prison for violating Baez's civil rights, and the Baez family received a $3 million settlement from the city later that year. In 2003, two more cops were fired for giving false testimony in Livoti's defense.

[pipoman]

1. Sounds like either one of these cases

Would make a better example of police racism or brutality than the Ferguson case....not sure why so many wish to hang their hats on Ferguson when there are actually cases where police racism and brutality could be demonstrated with actual facts...

[Live and Learn]

2. Hanging their hats on Ferguson?

Nobody knows why some cases get attention while other cases don't but I can tell you that i don't see one as worse than the other. NOBODY should be killed unless the person killing them is in REAL danger of being killed themselves.

The police shouldn't be allowed to lie to people or curse at them at all. And the only time they should be able to use force is when the suspect is actually pending a REAL and substantial danger to the themselves or somebody else. And the danger shouldn't be brought about by police actions.

Police should be trained and mandated to attempt to deactivate dangerous situations. Instead, we have a police force that is taught to lie, curse and protect themselves above all else.

It isn't about just Ferguson, it is about a culture of racism, killing (especially our young men) and power abuse. We should speak up about every single case.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. +1.

[pipoman]

4. And I believe the officer could have been in a

Situation that was life threatening to himself or others. It isn't too much of a stretch to believe the guy in the convenience store could attempt to use his size and bad attitude to disarm the cop. The cop has the responsibility to defend himself and his weapon (s) with deadly force. And some computer commando doesn't get to pretend to know better than the trained cop, nor does the commando get to redecide what should have happened in the 5 seconds it takes for an attacker to disarm and kill someone, over the coarse of weeks.

[justiceischeap]

6. shouldn't that be "course of weeks" not "coarse of weeks"? Are the weeks rough? nt

[2pooped2pop]

5. Ferguson rioted causing news

quiet protests and complaints are ignored by the press on purpose. They just let it die down.

[pipoman]

11. Thus the challenge of this case...

Those who want change in police militarization tactics, police brutality policy, racial profiling and guidelines for use of deadly force, as I do, using this case as an example of any of these things being abused may well turn out to be a huge mistake.

I would like for these issues to be brought to the forefront. ..preferably on one of the many cases with merit, rather than one that is likely easily demonstrated to be justifiable by every police training and policy manual in the nation.

[marmar]

7. K/R

[LloydS of New London]

8. +1

[MrScorpio]

9. Basically, it's open season on black people. nt

[pipoman]

12. Honestly, in this very specific case

If...if the scenario were a bold, aggressive male, 6'4" and 290#, hit a cop in the face, then charged toward the cop who is 190#, holding a handgun, that the male, without regard for race, would be shot until he dropped?

I'm not saying that is what happened in this case. I don't know. It is one of the versions of what happened, therefore likely has at least some elements of truth. ..maybe not.. I just don't believe in the example above race would change the outcome.

[JEB]

10. K&R for exposure.

[FarPoint]

13. I really like Judge Bryon White's ruling/findings.

Simple, articulate and accurately assessed.

[jillan]

14. What people don't understand about Ferguson

It is the icing on the cake. That cake has been burning for decades, for centuries.
Everytime there is an incident like those above, that cake keeps getting more and more layers.
The day Trayvon Martin was added into the mix, that cake began exploding.

Ferguson is the icing on that cake.

Reporters keep asking, now what? Are we just going to forget about what happened in Ferguson in the months ahead?

NEVER! There is no going back. The whole world now knows one of America's filthy little secrets.