"I wish James Brown was around so that I could thank him for his service."

[jtuck004]

..."Twenty-six-year-old James Brown served two tours in Iraq. He didn't make it two days in a Texas jail.
...

He said, 'They're trying to make me stay seven days instead of two days, so I just want to pay the court fine and get out of here,'" Dinette Robinson-Scott said. Brown asked his mother if she would pay the fine to get him released. She paid the money the next day and learned that overnight, her son had died.
...
"When a 26-year-old man checks into jail for a court-imposed sentence on a Friday, and he leaves Sunday in a casket, something went horribly wrong there," one of the Brown family attorneys, B.J. Crow, told the news station.
After a hard-fought battle to have video footage released of the incident that Brown's family believes led to his death, KFOX14 learned that during Brown's stay, several guards detained him and did not order medical attention even though Brown can be heard throughout the recording saying that he can't breathe. At one point, Brown can be heard yelling, "I'm choking on my blood."
...

Here.

Maybe we need a second Memorial Day for people who were murdered by cops.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. I don't think that federal troops are looking to invade Texas and take it over

But given the stories that regularly come from there, like this one, perhaps it should be considered.

What kind of a place is this?

[Autumn]

2. 'his death was caused by a pre-existing medical condition."

Brown had an "episode in his cell that caused him to bleed." The footage does not show how Brown began bleeding or how the blood got onto the walls of his one-person cell, but officers can be seen asking Brown questions. Brown refuses to answer, and guards in riot gear enter the cell and force Brown to the ground. As many as five guards can be seen on top of Brown, who appears to be flat on the ground. At no point during the footage does Brown appear to be resisting the officers, but he can be heard yelling, "I can't breathe."Throughout the recording, Brown appears to be losing consciousness.

Yeah that sounds like a pre-existing medical condition that would cause his death.

[jtuck004]

4. I see that as deliberately racist. The police in Spokane, WA killed a

fella, Otto Zem:

...
Otto Zehm (1970–2006) was a man with a developmental disability from Spokane, Washington who died on March 20, 2006 during an altercation with police officer Karl F. Thompson Jr.[1] Zehm committed no crime, and on May 30, 2006, the Spokane County coroner ruled the death a homicide.[2][3] In 2012, the first of several officers on the scene at Zehn's death was convicted of excessive use of force and lying to investigators, and was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment.
...

Recently unsealed federal court files show that the lead investigator within the police department, detective Terry Ferguson, knew that if the video of Zehm’s death became public, the results would be ‘inflammatory.’ Thompson also sent emails to police union officials requesting that they research deaths caused by a condition known as ‘excited delirium.’
...

Here.

Back to today, and Mr. Brown. Now police departments all over - actually their attorneys and advisers - know "excited delirium" will be trouble, so they pick another condition, specifically one which is associated with people of color, and hide behind that as an excuse for being murderous bullies. From above:

...
The official autopsy report lists "natural causes by sickle cell crisis," the news station notes.
"Mr. Brown's death was an unfortunate tragedy," El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said in a statement viewed by KFOX14. "The sheriff's office has conducted a thorough review of the facts surrounding Mr. Brown's death and, based upon all the evidence obtained, determined that his death was caused by a pre-existing medical condition. The specific evidence cannot be discussed because of pending litigation."
Thee news station noted that Brown did not have a known history of sickle cell crisis and had never suffered an incident before, but added that sickle cell can stay dormant and be triggered by stress and dehydration". [Story and video here]

Hmmm, two tours in Iraq, and it took this incident to trigger a "sickle cell crisis".
...

[DashOneBravo]

3. WTH ...

Thanks for posting that.

I hadn't heard about it. They blamed it on his sickle cell.