Welcome to the weekly update from the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity! Here, we give you a wrap-up of the latest developments and notable news as we continue our state-focused fight to abolish the unjust rule.
This week, Daunte Wright’s mother gets detained for exercising her constitutional rights; a screening of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain honors families impacted by state violence; a retired cop speaks out against qualified immunity; and more!
FEATURED STORY
AP News: Daunte Wright’s Mother Detained After Recording Traffic Stop
“‘All I was doing was my civic duty to pull over and make sure that those babies got home safe to their families because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to any other families,’ [Katie] Wright said.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
“Qualified immunity is a slap in the face to any families that have suffered great loss at the hands of public officials who’ve acted with impunity.” A May 10 VIP screening of the acclaimed film The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, held at the Madison Theatre in Albany, honored New York families impacted by government violence and called on lawmakers to end qualified immunity in the state.
Read more here.
“As peace officers, we can and should be pillars of the community. We must set an example by implementing real systems of accountability.” Ret. Deputy Chief Wayne Harris, chair of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and a veteran of the Rochester, New York, police department, explained how ending qualified immunity will benefit law enforcement by getting rid of the barrier to public trust that prevents cops from keeping communities safe.
Read more here.
The Syracuse Post-Standard editorial board has come out against qualified immunity. The doctrine, they wrote, “is a barrier to justice, even when authorities commit egregious abuses that defy the Constitution, common sense and basic human dignity.” The board fully endorses S 1991, the bill that would end qualified immunity in New York State.
Read more here.
“It felt like they were breaking my arm…it turns out they did.” Patricia Rodney went to the NYPD to report her lost glucose monitor. Frustrated by getting the runaround from the police, she told them she wasn’t leaving the station until they filed her lost-property report. In response, a group of rogue officers threw the 61-year-old grandmother to the ground, twisting her arms and fracturing her elbow.
Read more here.
MARYLAND
In 2018, Steven Alexander was tased, pepper-sprayed, and arrested by a rogue Maryland cop for no good reason. Alexander, who lost his job and suffered PTSD following the encounter, has filed a civil rights lawsuit. “Mr. Alexander did nothing wrong other than walking through a park after having worked a long, hard day…and a police officer who wasn’t following protocol only exacerbated the situation by making it worse,” said Prince George’s District Court Judge Bryon Bereano.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
USA Today: Delaware State University ‘Incensed’ After Lacrosse Team’s Bus Searched in Georgia
“Moments like these should be relegated to part of our country’s complicated history,” [Delaware Governor Jim] Carney said, “but they continue to occur with sad regularity in communities across our country. It’s especially hard when it impacts our own community.”
Read more here.
AlterNet: Qualified Immunity Is Rooted in White Supremacy and Gives Cops a Free Pass to Lynch Black People
“Racial bias among police is well documented. Police continue to terrorize Black America…They refuse to follow laws that should already ensure that being Black in America at the wrong time and place is not a death sentence.…Qualified immunity feeds the problem.”
Read more here.
NBC 4: Body Camera Video Reveals Virginia Deputies Slammed 77-Year-Old Man Into Truck, Tackled Him
“Newly released body camera video reveals deputies in Warren County, Virginia, slammed a 77-year-old man into a pickup truck and tackled him to the ground. He died 13 days later….The Warren County Sheriff’s Office originally said Ralph Ennis had fallen over the trailer hitch of his truck and hit his head during the arrest on April 2 outside a 7-Eleven near Front Royal.”
Read more here.
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