Another "I can't breath" death: Police Reform & Protests in the USA

[Paranoid Android]

The most obvious idea that it's just made-up bullshit is that the bottle clearly says it's for mineral water. Sure, you could refill the bottle with something else, but the classic Molotov just sticks a wick into a liquor bottle, with the liquor acting as fuel. I guess they could've decanted gasoline into the bottle there, but that's just way more work for no real reason.

Exactly but if they want to show evidence why would they empty it? Don't give "safety" bs, not you talking about NYPD here. I did make a mistake of calling it a napkin when looks to be cloth.

I could be totally wrong as stated and caught up in some contrarian social media here, but this doesn't look like hard evidence the NYPD seems to be giving to the public.

[Edge-]

Exactly but if they want to show evidence why would they empty it? Don't give "safety" bs, not you talking about NYPD here. I did make a mistake of calling it a napkin when looks to be cloth.

I could be totally wrong as stated and caught up in some contrarian social media here, but this doesn't look like hard evidence the NYPD seems to be giving to the public.

Looking again, it's not even fuckin empty. It's about 1/4 full and it looks like there are still a few bubbles of carbonation. NYPC just out on the streets thinking every piece of trash they find is actually a deadly weapon intended to harm them.

[Captain N]

Looking again, it's not even fuckin empty. It's about 1/4 full and it looks like there are still a few bubbles of carbonation. NYPC just out on the streets thinking every piece of trash they find is actually a deadly weapon intended to harm them.

It's almost like they're looking for a reason to kill someone else.

[Edge-]

https://www.wtrf.com/west-virginia-s...idden-cameras/

More women are filing lawsuits against the West Virginia State Police.

Wheeling West Virginia Attorney Teresa Toriseva sent a notice of legal action to Interim WVSP Superintendent Colonel Jack Chambers and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on April 21 saying 42 women, including 10 minors, plan to file lawsuits against the West Virginia State Police.

The minors attended Junior Trooper Academy.

According to a letter sent by Cpl. Joseph Comer, a member of the WV State Police, to state lawmakers, Governor Jim Justice, and the office of the Attorney General on February 16, a hidden camera or cameras were placed and operated inside the female locker room at the State Police Academy. Toriseva says her clients and other female Junior Trooper program attendees accessed and used the female locker room at the Academy during the time the anonymous letter states the cameras were in use. Toriseva also says the taping of the females in the Academy did not end until 2020, the same time the Junior Trooper Program was discontinued in 2020.

“Our ongoing investigation shows rampant sexual misconduct, including hidden videotaping, toward female cadets and others, while they attended the Academy,” Toriseva told 7News. “Much of the conduct is through witness provided evidence.”

Toriseva says these women that were videotaped have experienced varying levels of physical and emotional abuse

“All of these women were victims of a civil conspiracy perpetrated by instructors, staff and leadership at the West Virginia State Police Academy,” the letter states. “Accordingly, these women will bring suit seeking all available damages under the law.”

On March 20, West Virginia State Police Superintendent Jan Cahill resigned from his position and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice appointed Jack Chambers to the position.

Justice says he expects that Chambers will address any issues and allegations against the WVSP, including allegations of a trooper, who has since passed away, installing a camera in a women’s locker room at a state police headquarters and recording video. Justice says other troopers who later found the USB flash drive with the video on it, allegedly “threw it on the floor and stomped on it,” destroying the evidence.

The governor calls these allegations a violation of women’s rights, saying a women’s locker room should be considered a “safe place,” and urged Chambers to get to the bottom of the situation.

”We don’t need to turn our back on the whole because the bad actors are the few. We need to do our job to develop a real confidence that the people are satisfied that we did our job. But we don’t ever need to forget who brought us to the dance too and I say that in slang, but we owe a lot of gratitude to our state police,” Governor Justice told 7News.

Toriseva is also representing three other current and former female Troopers and three other minors. They have filed separate notices of intent to sue. Also, four other women have filed suit in Kanawha Circuit Court by attorneys Troy Giatras and Matthew Stonestreet of The Giatras Law Firm

According to Toriseva, the women say they have suffered anxiety, humiliation, annoyance, inconvenience, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, pain, suffering, mental anguish, loss of ability to enjoy life and other damages.

Once again, it seems the best place to be a criminal is from within law enforcement itself. Because holy shit will your buddies absolutely protect you if you, say, have your thumb drive of videos of young girls changing in a locker room discovered.

[Captain N]

I'm sorry but what the actual hell is this....?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...fptaskbar&ei=5

HARLESTON W.Va. (AP) — An off-duty deputy sheriff in West Virginia who struck and killed a 13-year-old girl with his marked cruiser last year will not face criminal charges in her death, according to the prosecutor investigating the case.

Special Prosecutor for Cabell County Mark Sorsaia determined the “tragic loss” of 13-year-old Jacqueline “Laney” Hudson in December 2022 was a “direct result” of her own erratic behavior while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, according to a letter dated Thursday clearing former Cabell County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey Racer of negligence.

That “severely affected her judgement and ability to make rational decisions, and subsequently led to her running in front of the car," wrote Sorsaia, who is also prosecutor in Putnam County.

But Hudson family lawyer Tyler Haslam said they still have questions that need answering. For one, they want to know how fast the off-duty deputy was driving in the marked sheriff's department cruiser when it struck her.

A state police accident reconstruction expert could not precisely determine how fast the cruiser was moving when it struck Hudson because its “black box” — which usually records that information — did not activate, according to Sorsaia.

The family was not surprised by the prosecutor's decision, they said in a statement provided by their attorney Friday.

“Racer’s actions precipitated the vehicular death of a juvenile pedestrian and left a family heartbroken,” her family wrote. “Despite our disappointment about the special prosecutor’s decision, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of justice.”

The family said they “look forward to reviewing the State’s full investigation once it is released in order to compare it to our own.”

Hudson was killed on December 30, 2022 just after 10:30 p.m. in the state’s second largest city of Huntington — populated by just under 50,000 — where she was hanging out at an intersection in a group of teenagers.

Racer, who was placed on administrative leave following Hudson’s death and resigned months later, was driving his cruiser after hours because he was staying overnight at his girlfriend's house and needed it for work in the morning, the prosecutor said.

Racer drove through the green light at the intersection when Hudson and another teen ran into the roadway, Sorsaia said. He tried stop, but was unable to avoid hitting Hudson. The other child was not injured. Racer stayed on the scene and called 911, according to the prosecutor.

A subsequent autopsy found that Hudson had alcohol and marijuana in her system when she died, according to Sorsaia. Law enforcement officials said Hudson was intoxicated from drinking beer and smoking synthetic marijuana — commonly known as K2 or spice — and was “significantly impaired” when she ran into the street in front of Racer's vehicle.

A video taken off Hudson's phone by state police after her death showed the kids running around in the street by the intersection prior to the crash.

“It is commonly known in law enforcement circles that when a young person smokes marijuana laced with K2, it can severely impact their behavior, impair their judgement and their physical actions,” Sorsaia wrote.

Two sobriety tests — including a preliminary breath test resulting in a .000 blood alcohol level — found that there was “no sign of impairment” in Racer's case.

The prosecutor found no cause for Racer to be charged under the state's negligent homicide statute, which requires evidence of driving with “willful wanton disregard of the safety of others."

Even if he was speeding, that wouldn't justify a negligent homicide charge, Sorsaia said.

“There must be a conscious decision made where one would know they are putting other lives at risk,” he wrote.

Estimates by state police reconstruction teams analyzing skid marks and other factors placed Racer’s speed between 47 and 55 miles per hour — at least 10 to 20 miles per hour over the speed limit.

Sorsaia said 49 miles per hour was the median speed in February when law enforcement conducted an hour-long radar survey of 63 vehicles passing through the intersection where Hudson died.

Even if the survey doesn't eliminate the possibility that Racer was speeding, it indicated his speed was "well within the average speed limits used by individuals using that particular location on the roadway," Sorsaia concluded.

Haslam, the attorney representing Hudson’s family, said his firm is conduction their own investigation and analyzing law enforcement's findings.

“Quite frankly, I don’t care what the average speed is through that intersection. There’s a posted speed limit," he told The Associated Press Friday. "We expect all citizens, but particularly those in marked patrol vehicles, to go the speed limit, absent some emergency. Very clearly from the report that came out yesterday, there was no emergency."

A negligent homicide conviction could have come with a penalty of a year of incarceration, a $100 to $1,000 fine, or both. Racer's driver's license would have been revoked.

[RampageBW1]

How the fuck is speeding 10-20 miles over the speed limit not fall under negligence? You ACTIVELY did something that increased the risk/harm in an accident. . . Isn't that textbook negligence?

Well, if you were a civilian, yes! But you see, Police are held to a different standard than you or I. And by standard, I mean, they above the law in a lot of cases...

As much as I'd like to believe that most cops are generally "good", the more of these stories creep up, the more I start thinking that All Cops Are Bastards.

I mean, even if most cops have good intentions, if they do not stop the bad ones, they are no better.

[Captain N]

Well, if you were a civilian, yes! But you see, Police are held to a different standard than you or I. And by standard, I mean, they above the law in a lot of cases...

As much as I'd like to believe that most cops are generally "good", the more of these stories creep up, the more I start thinking that All Cops Are Bastards.

I mean, even if most cops have good intentions, if they do not stop the bad ones, they are no better.

The fact this "Special Prosecutor" made these claims is making me believe the same thing.

It's starting to become that -- We've investigated ourselves and found us not to have done anything wrong -- bull shit yet again.

[Masark]

44 charges, including multiple counts of rape, against a cop tossed due to seemingly intentional prosecution incompetence.

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...-deputy-wilkey

[s_bushido]

As much as I'd like to believe that most cops are generally "good", the more of these stories creep up, the more I start thinking that All Cops Are Bastards.

That's the thing, though (and basically the whole point of ACAB): Even the "good" cops are working within a fundamentally broken/corrupt system. I have no idea what sort of consequences a normal person would face for killing someone while doing 10-20+ the speed limit, but the fact that they're finding any reason they can to handwave this away (that shit about the average speed of drivers in that area), is just yet another example of this.

[draynay]

That's the thing, though (and basically the whole point of ACAB): Even the "good" cops are working within a fundamentally broken/corrupt system. I have no idea what sort of consequences a normal person would face for killing someone while doing 10-20+ the speed limit, but the fact that they're finding any reason they can to handwave this away (that shit about the average speed of drivers in that area), is just yet another example of this.

Exactly, it is the systemic corruption that is the problem here. This guy fucked up and got someone killed, do we hate him for that? These things happen, they're awful, but humans make these mistakes, the important thing is facing the consequences for them, which cops get a pass on, and that is what we hate. ACAB and defunding the police have always been about the systemic problems protecting the criminals with badges. This is what the "few bad eggs" people never seem to understand.

[Deus Mortis]

That's the thing, though (and basically the whole point of ACAB): Even the "good" cops are working within a fundamentally broken/corrupt system. I have no idea what sort of consequences a normal person would face for killing someone while doing 10-20+ the speed limit, but the fact that they're finding any reason they can to handwave this away (that shit about the average speed of drivers in that area), is just yet another example of this.

So this made me curious what are the penalties of the crime committed for a normal person and I am actually surprised that the crime is pretty much a slap on the wrist even for normal people, the West Virgina law seems to pretty much be the same as California's but I found a longer article going over the stuff from the law in California.
https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/penal-code/192c/

2.2. Misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter (PC 192(c)(2)) penalties
Misdemeanor—ordinary—vehicular manslaughter under Penal Code 192(c)(2) PC carries the following consequences:

Misdemeanor (summary) probation,
A sentence of up to one (1) year in county jail, and/or
A fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000).

The cop would be hit with going over the speed limit, so it would imo most likely end up with the misdemeanor charge as he was not greatly over the limit(he was within the average speed for that area) and he was not swerving etc. The fact alone that a normal person would possibly not face any charges besides probation and a fine, as well as the victim running out into the middle of the road at night would be my guess why the prosecutor chose not to pursue the case.

The small amount I found for West Virginia max penalty is also 1 year in jail, with other possible outcomes just being probation or a fine: https://www.drivinglaws.org/resource...-and-penalties.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

The cop would be hit with going over the speed limit, so it would imo most likely end up with the misdemeanor charge as he was not greatly over the limit(he was within the average speed for that area) and he was not swerving etc. The fact alone that a normal person would possibly not face any charges besides probation and a fine, as well as the victim running out into the middle of the road at night would be my guess why the prosecutor chose not to pursue the case.

Small point of order, Racer's estimated speed was 47-55mph and the median speed is apparently 49 mph. So at best he was just below the median but at worst he was 6mph over. 6 mph may not seem like a lot but it can make a huge difference

https://aaafoundation.org/impact-spe...-injury-death/

Results show that the average risk of severe injury for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle reaches 10% at an impact speed of 16 mph, 25% at 23 mph, 50% at 31 mph, 75% at 39 mph, and 90% at 46 mph. The average risk of death for a pedestrian reaches 10% at an impact speed of 23 mph, 25% at 32 mph, 50% at 42 mph, 75% at 50 mph, and 90% at 58 mph.

[Deus Mortis]

Small point of order, Racer's estimated speed was 47-55mph and the median speed is apparently 49 mph. So at best he was just below the median but at worst he was 6mph over. 6 mph may not seem like a lot but it can make a huge difference

https://aaafoundation.org/impact-spe...-injury-death/

Thanks for the link, that is good information to know!

[Nymrohd]

Well, if you were a civilian, yes! But you see, Police are held to a different standard than you or I. And by standard, I mean, they above the law in a lot of cases...

As much as I'd like to believe that most cops are generally "good", the more of these stories creep up, the more I start thinking that All Cops Are Bastards.

I mean, even if most cops have good intentions, if they do not stop the bad ones, they are no better.

Someone should look through every speed limit violation prosecuted by that County, appeal and have them overturned.

[Edge-]

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/11757...misinformation

NPR has a good article debunking that copaganda about how cops are ODing on fentanyl left and right just by touching it or inhaling a miniscule amount of particles. TLDR -

"This has never happened," said Dr. Ryan Marino, a toxicologist and emergency room physician who studies addiction at Case Western Reserve University. "There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl."

Most of those videos you see of officers "overdosing" are largely them faking shit or simply having a panic attack. To reinforce the above -

"There's never been a toxicologically confirmed case," said Brandon Del Pozo, a former police chief who studies addiction and drug policy at Brown University." The idea of it hanging in the air and getting breathed in is highly highly implausible - it's nearly impossible."

NPR reached out to the Tavares Florida police department and Officer Bannick asking for toxicology reports or other information confirming she was affected by fentanyl. They declined to make that medical information public.

We also contacted numerous other law enforcement and government agencies, as well as researchers around the U.S.

We couldn't find a single case of a police officer who reported being poisoned by fentanyl or overdosing after encountering the street drug that was confirmed by toxicology reports.

It's as bullshit as the poisoned milkshakes, or the "molotov cocktail" that was just mineral water, or like that time cops literally kidnapped a child for copaganda.

[Lynarii]

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/11757...misinformation

NPR has a good article debunking that copaganda about how cops are ODing on fentanyl left and right just by touching it or inhaling a miniscule amount of particles. TLDR -



Most of those videos you see of officers "overdosing" are largely them faking shit or simply having a panic attack. To reinforce the above -

I am going to go out and say here that a panic attack is not a 'simply' thing that should be hand waved away as minor. It's a seriously debilitating thing for anyone, and even worse for someone who is already in a tense situation.

I do not blame the individual police officers who are having panic attacks in these scenarios. I DO however blame the police departments who have trained them to believe that their life is so threatened as to trigger such a response. You cannot go around teaching police that even breathing in the general vicinity of something can kill them and then not expect them to have a visceral reaction to encountering that thing. And that's exactly what happened, they got explicitly taught that extreme panic to imminent death was the appropriate way to feel.

[Edge-]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/m...lse-statements

Eyyy, DC Metro cop in the "intelligence branch" was good buddies with Tarrio and was feeding him information over telegram, and obstructed investigations.

There continues to be a problem of right wing extremism in military and law enforcement that goes largely unaddressed. However in some good news on the topic - https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-who-have-them

Nearly three dozen deputies have been ordered to come in for questioning, show their tattoos and give up the names of any other deputies similarly sporting ink connecting them to two of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s most notorious deputy gangs.

The demand came Friday in a letter sent by county Inspector General Max Huntsman to 35 deputies suspected of being members of either the Executioners, which operates out of the Compton station, or the Banditos, which operates out of the East L.A. station.

The names of the deputies have not been released to the public, but Huntsman said they were a subset of the 41 deputies he identified as suspected gang members last year.

“The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department conducted incomplete internal affairs investigations into the Banditos and Executioners, failing to identify all members,” Huntsman told The Times this week. “California’s new gang law addresses discrimination based on race and gender and gives inspectors general enhanced authority to collect evidence. We’re using that authority to complete the investigations by directing deputies to show their tattoos and tell us who else has them.”

Sounds like things are hopefully getting more serious in regards to getting rid of the literal criminal gangs operating out of the LA Sheriffs office.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/202.../mjif-m12.html

The three Pennsylvania police officers who shot and killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility and wounded three other people in 2021 have been sentenced to just five years’ probation.

The lenient sentences are yet another example of how the police operate with almost complete impunity in the continued string of killings throughout the country despite the years of protests and promises from Democratic politicians for reform.

On August 27, 2021, three officers, Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney, shot and killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility as she and her family were walking home from a high school football game in Sharon Hill, a borough just outside Philadelphia. Three other people, including Fanta's 12-year-old sister were also wounded in the assault.

Last November, the three officers reached a plea deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to 10 counts of the lesser charge of reckless endangerment in exchange for the dropping of one count each of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter charges.

Together the three officers fired at least 25 rounds into the crowd of people as they were exiting the football stadium. The officers, who were on duty to provide security for the school event, claimed that they believed a car driven by two students—who were also leaving the game—was responsible for several gunshots that had been fired a block away.

Following the November plea deal, Bility’s family spoke with reporters on the courthouse steps.

“The agony we feel constantly reliving the loss of our dear Fanta who was just 8 years old when she was killed by Sharon Hill police officers, is impossible to describe with words,” Fanta Bility’s uncle, Abu Bility, told reporters. “Since her mother and siblings were witnesses to this tragic incident, they will have to live with that trauma imprinted in their memories for the rest of their lives.”

Bility said that he hoped the plea deal would allow the family some “closure.”

Abu Bility said “after much prayer and discussion,” the family decided that a plea agreement ensuring that the “police officers take responsibility” was in the “best interest of the family.”

The best job to have if you want to kill people without meaningful consequences is still in law enforcement. The fun bit is next!

From the start, state and local prosecutors made clear that they did not want to arrest the police officers. Charges were reluctantly filed only after protests threatened to build throughout the Philadelphia area.

Prosecutors originally charged the two teenage boys, 16-year-old Angelo Ford and 18-year-old Hasein Strand with first degree murder for Fanta’s death even though the two did not fire the shot that hit and killed her.

So prosecutors wanted to charge teenagers who did not shoot Fanta with first degree murder for...her death caused by officers.

According to witnesses, the two teenagers were among hundreds of students and families attending the football game. During the game, Ford and Strand had been exchanging words and afterwards, more than a block from the stadium, got into a fight in which they fired guns at each other.

Outrage that the two teenagers and not the police were charged with Fanta’s death forced prosecutors to suspend the murder charges against the two.

Justifying the first-degree murder charges against the youth, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said at the time that the teenagers were ultimately responsible for the police murder of Bility.

Ah yes, the teenagers who committed a crime shooting at each other elsewhere were responsible for law enforcement choosing to fire into a crowd and ultimately killing a young girl.

A
C
A
B

Continues to be the acronym of the day.

[Deus Mortis]

Ah yes, the teenagers who committed a crime shooting at each other elsewhere were responsible for law enforcement choosing to fire into a crowd and ultimately killing a young girl.

A
C
A
B

Continues to be the acronym of the day.

Still a dumb as fuck saying with history that has landed it as a hate symbol. There are plenty of awful cops that deserve prison, like the ones in the article, but once you start saying "all", that is when you have entered the realm of being disingenuous.
https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/acab

[draynay]

Still a dumb as fuck saying with history that has landed it as a hate symbol. There are plenty of awful cops that deserve prison, like the ones in the article, but once you start saying "all", that is when you have entered the realm of being disingenuous.
https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/acab

Boo this man.

[s_bushido]

Still a dumb as fuck saying with history that has landed it as a hate symbol. There are plenty of awful cops that deserve prison, like the ones in the article, but once you start saying "all", that is when you have entered the realm of being disingenuous.
https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/acab

Are you calling Edge a racist skinhead? If not, fuck off with this disingenuous bullshit.

In this case, it looks like it's not just the cops that are bastards, but the DA who refused to do anything about the killing in the first place, too.