Officer charged with murder in shooting death of unarmed woman in Minneapolis alley

[Jose Garcia]

Source: The Washington Post

The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an Australian woman last summer has been charged with murder and manslaughter in the shooting, which caused international outrage and forced out the city’s veteran police chief.

Mohamed Noor is charged with third-degree murder for “perpetrating an eminently dangerous act and evincing depraved mind” and second-degree manslaughter for “culpable negligence creating unreasonable risk,” according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday afternoon.

Noor was booked into jail at 11:16 a.m. on a warrant on those charges, according to charging documents. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Justine Damond, 40, was fatally shot July 15 after summoning police to what she said was a possible rape near her home.

Read more: www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/20/officer-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-death-of-unarmed-woman-in-minneapolis-alley/

[Mountain Mule]

1. K&R! nt

[Randomthought]

2. Bail is too low

I want him to sit in jail until his trial and after.

[juxtaposed]

3. if the victim was a black woman it would never have come to this point

[Aristus]

4. Or if the cop was white.

n/t

[juxtaposed]

5. I thought that too when it first happened

[Randomthought]

9. I don't think that's true in this case

My neighborhood, Fulton in south Minneapolis, where Justine lived is very liberal. We have long been concerned about the conduct of the Minneapolis police. What is unique about this case is that the victim could not be vilified no matter how much the police tried.

[Aristus]

14. That's an interesting observation:

You said the area where you live is very liberal (and that's great; I couldn't live in a red area...), but it sounds like the cops tried to blame the victim somehow, which seems very much a right-wing thing to do.

It suggests to me that regardless of the political leanings of a region, the cops will basically be right-wing.

[juxtaposed]

26. I agree, but she was very white from an area that had very little crime.

[liberalhistorian]

34. Kroll and his goons seemed especially eager

to vilify and smear Justine, I think because the knew the case was so horrendous and indefensible. Some of the shit they attempted to come up with was really laughable.

[whathehell]

23. BS..There's white cops and white civillians in jail or prison right now

for shooting and killing black victims -- You might want to to give it a rest.

[juxtaposed]

27. maybe a couple, if filmed and recorded, and god pointing a finger at them. or some poor bystander fi

lming everything, and not getting shot and killed doing it..

[whathehell]

29. Oh please..

Hyperbole really doesn't help

[LanternWaste]

33. Neither does confusing a statistical aberration with a statistical norm.

Neither does confusing a statistical aberration with a statistical norm.

Please, indeed.

[whathehell]

36. Really?

Do illuminate us as to the "confusion" in my post.

[Honeycombe8]

17. You don't know that.

1. It has to be in this jurisdiction.
2. The woman killed has to be the one who called the cops to an alley because of a suspect.
3. She has to be acting normally, more or less....not in an argument or confrontation w/the cops, just walking up to them after they arrive.


I don't think the copy should have been charged. What seems to have happened is that they were startled when she appeared at the car's window, in the dark, where they knew a suspect had been spotted. Seems like in his nervousness he just shot, when he was startled. That's negligence, not murder.

[xor]

32. Why would a cop shoot someone without seeing a weapon?

Last edited Wed Mar 21, 2018, 04:48 PM - Edit history (1)

If just considered negligence, what sort of punishment would that bring about usually? Any idea?

I'm pretty sure I would get it for murder if I just shot someone from across the street because they walk out of a dark alle

[liberalhistorian]

35. Not only did Noor not see any weapon,

he didn't even know what he was shooting at. And he reached across his partner to shoot, which put his partner in danger as well.

[whathehell]

25. Comes to what?

Justice isn't pursued for the wrongful deaths of Black women? -Give me a break.

[Virtual Burlesque]

31. Results will vary according to region. n/t

[Wellstone ruled]

6. The County Attorney

finally got the message . Watch his Republican Critics pounce on him for doing this.

[liberalhistorian]

8. Not just the repub critics,

but Kroll and his union goons also. He's done a great job at stridently whipping up his members against any kind of accountability and responsibility whatsoever, and he's been especially defensive regarding this particular case. I don't think he and his members realize just how badly they come across with such attitudes. They fought any of the subpoenaed officers being interviewed, they fought Freeman on the grand jury, their insensitive statements have been infuriating and cringeworthy. And then they wonder why people don't trust them.

[Wellstone ruled]

28. You just told the real story.

Kroll is the problem and he loves to interject himself into any Police Public issue.

[mn9driver]

7. It will be difficult to obtain a conviction.

Noor’s partner has testified that they were both startled and in fear for their lives in the moments leading up to the shooting. For a police officer in the line of duty, that has always been a successful defense in Minnesota. The officer that shot Philando Castile was acquitted due to this.

I’m not defending what happened, but the prosecution will need to discredit this testimony in order to get a conviction.

[LisaL]

10. But the partner didn't shoot and he was closer to the victim.

In fact Noor could have easily shot his partner as he was shooting across the seat.

[Randomthought]

11. but his partner who had the better view did not shoot

He said he could not determine any threat.

[LisaL]

13. And basically, all this poor woman did is apparently tried to approach the car, since she called 911

and I presume wanted to talk to the police. If that's enough for a policeman to claim he is scared for his life, then who is going to be safe?

[brush]

22. Get the scared-of-their-shadow cops off police forces all over the country.

If the Parkland cop hadn't been so afraid lives could have been saved.

The cop in the Maryland school shooting today shows how officers should react, and that was to a shooter, not an innocent woman who called 911.

[liberalhistorian]

12. I don't think the other officer said

they were in "fear for their lives", I think he just said they were both "startled" by a loud noise before Justine came to their car window to talk to them about what she'd heard and why she made the 911 call. And if that was the case, then why didn't the other officer, the one who was actually the driver and, thus, closest to the window, fire his own gun? Noor reached across his partner to fire, putting his partner in danger also, and before he even know what was really happening. Those are the first points I'd hope Freeman would make, and he's experienced enough to know that.

If officers can fire without even knowing who or what they're firing at just because, and every time, they're "startled", then we're all fucked and in danger. I'm tired of the "fear for my life" shit being used to justify anything and everything.

[LisaL]

15. My point exactly.

Just being startled shouldn't be enough for a cop to shoot, or who is going to be safe? She didn't have a gun, she wasn't threatening anyone with any kind of weapon, all she did is apparently approached the car.

[christx30]

20. I was walking through the Walmart parking lot

on my way in, and I saw a cop at the door with his back to me. I coughed REALLY loudly to get him to turn around and establish eye contact with me. The last thing I wanted to do is to startle him and have him shoot me.

[mn9driver]

18. Actually, he did.

...Officer Harrity said he was startled and said ‘Oh, sh*t or Oh, Jesus.’ He said he perceived that his life was in danger, reached for his gun, unholstered it, and held it to his rib cage while pointing it downward...”

http://m.startribune.com/minneapolis-police-officer-mohamed-noor-turns-himself-in-on-charges-in-justine-damond-killing/477405923/?section=%2F

[LisaL]

19. Whatever he said, he didn't shoot.

And he was closer to the victim.

[mn9driver]

21. That by itself is not enough.

Mike Freeman would not have brought charges if he thought a conviction wasn’t possible. But he is realistic:

...While Freeman said he believes they have gathered enough evidence “as humanly possible” in the case, “We have a daunting task in front of us.”

http://m.startribune.com/minneapolis-police-officer-mohamed-noor-turns-himself-in-on-charges-in-justine-damond-killing/477405923/?section=%2F

[liberalhistorian]

24. Then what kind of chicken shits are they training

for police work these days? Loud noises, unusual sounds, being startled, etc., are an integral part of daily work life for cops. If they're "fearful for their lives" at every single fucking instance of it, then why the hell are they even cops? And doesn't that put the rest of us in danger all the time then?

The cynical part of me doesn't even believe him, because he said all of this after everything had happened and he'd had time to think about it. Of course he's going to do everything he can to minimize his partner's culpability and responsibility.

[dflprincess]

30. If he was in fear for his life it should have been from Noor.

Officer Noor shot from inside the car reaching in front of his partner to fire his weapon out the window of the police vehicle.

[Randomthought]

16. Freeman is a smart politician

I think he is too smart to go to trial unless he thinks the odds are good. I don't think he will swing and miss.

[truthisfreedom]

37. He was purposely charged with a crime for which he cant be convicted

I listened to an interview with an experienced criminal lawyer the day this came out.

It’s all a sham. By definition third degree murder means he didn’t have an intended victim.

It’s a crime reserved for people shooting at trains, for example. He’ll get off on a technicality.

This was done intentionally to clear him.