Family of Michigan child killed in raid sues police

[alp227]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Calling law enforcement accounts "absurd," a Michigan attorney sued police Tuesday in the death of 7-year-old girl killed during a raid in Detroit.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger said members of the Detroit Police Special Response Team acted out of line when they conducted a raid on the family home of Aiyana Jones, who was severely burned and then killed by an officer's bullet. She died Sunday.

"This type of activity by a police force is unacceptable in America," Fieger said at a news conference in his office. "What is equally unacceptable is the cover-up that has occurred."

Fieger filed both state and federal lawsuits alleging gross negligence, a violation of civil rights and a conspiracy to cover up the violation of civil rights.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/18/detroit.police.shooting/index.html

[pundaint]

1. Add CBS to the suit. We can see cops showing off their disdain for civil rights

all over reality cop shows. The presence of the camera encourages them to whip out their macho to the detriment of citizens. They needed to shoot something to make good TV.

[christx30]

4. I don't blame CBS

these are supposed to be experienced, disciplined officers that protect us. If a camera crew is enough to turn them into Rambo, then they need to be off the street and in an orange jumpsuit.
Besides, without the camera crew there, we would not known that the official story is B.S.

"There is no question about what happened because it's in the videotape," Fieger said. "It's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There was no altercation."

"Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch. The videotape shows clearly the officer throwing through the window a stun grenade-type explosive and then within milliseconds of throwing that, firing a shot from outside the home," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_en_tv/us_police_search_girl_killed

for the full article.

If the tape is as damning as it looks like, this is probably the end of this cop's career. We can only hope.

edited because I messed up the link. That should do it.

[sabrina 1]

5. In a civilized society this should end the

practice of attacking people in their homes and killing their pets and children, using SWAT teams in civilian areas should never have been allowed to begin with.

When the cure is far more harmful than the desease, and this is just one horrible incident caused by these unConstitutional attacks on American citizens in their own homes, there should not even be a need to discuss this. Stop it right now!

My heart goes out to that family. I cannot even imagine the pain, which will last a lifetime.

The film crew who thought it would make 'good tv' to film such violations of our Constitutional Rights should be ashamed of themselves also, unless they were doing it to expose the practice.

What is WRONG with Americans that they put up with this terror from their own government?

[elocs]

6. Especially when there are times that they don't even get the right house. n/t

[Iowa]

8. Well said. I agree.

[christx30]

11. You get

absolutely no argument from me. You give the cops military style weapons and tactics and a military mindset, and you can't be surprised when they think of themselves less as peace officers (you know, protectors of the innocent) and more military. And when that happens, where is their war? The cities that are depending on them keeping the peace. And who is the enemy when that happens? Who is the enemy of these military style police? You are the enemy. I am the enemy. Anyone that is not in their club is the enemy.
Further, they can't just stake out a house and catch the guy as he's going down to 7-11 to get a pack of condoms and a slurpee. You can't have a bunch of police-soldiers sitting around while beat cops do all the work. You have all of these great toys (riot shields, Kevlar vests and helmets, ect) and not use it. They have to justify their military budget by using it. Any money that doesn't get spent will mean less money next year.
So rather than keep the peace and capture people in a humane way, they choose to storm into a house in the middle of the night screaming "POLICE! EVERYBODY DOWN!!!" Innocents are killed. They catch the bad guy and walk away clapping each other on the back for a job well done.

I hope the father of that little girl burns Detroit PD, and gives the cops something to think about.

[Flaneur]

2. Pay up, Detroit, and figure out how to rein in your cops.

Not that this is unique to Detroit. Not at all.

But the only thing some people understand is financial pain.

[izquierdista]

12. Now that is the problem

Putting the mayor and the city council and the city administrator in a bunch of financial pain, while the police department sits back and submits their next budget request. The SWAT team needs to be disbanded, the police supervision replaced, the chief forced to retire, pretty much put the whole department into receivership and give the receiver carte blanche to make changes. Those that went into law enforcement "to protect and serve" will survive the changes; those that went in because they liked having authority to terrorize average people -- they will be gone.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. Has anyone (other than Feiger) seen the video?

Not that I would doubt the word of a highly-successful ambulance chaser ...

:shrug:

[sabrina 1]

7. There is a dead child. Her death is the result of an

unConstitutional attack on her home. I don't need any video to know that in a democracy this is a crime. She is not the first, and until this is outlawed as it should be, she won't be the last. To prevent any more of these murders, and it is murder when your home is invaded and someone kills your children or your pets, this should be the last of these attacks on American Citizens.

It is terrorism!

[crim son]

9. Yes, I'd like to see the video

so the cops get nailed. Otherwise they may weasel out of it, like cops seem to be able to do.

[sabrina 1]

10. True n/t