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, justice fails Rayshard Brooks; a rogue Chicago cop faces battery charges; Black citizens fight against racist policing in Mississippi; and more!
FEATURED STORY
The New York Times: Officers in Fatal Shooting of Rayshard Brooks Will Not Be Charged
“More than two years after Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a white police officer in the parking lot of an Atlanta fast-food restaurant, a prosecutor has determined that the officer who fired, as well as another officer on the scene, ‘committed no crimes’ in the incident.”
Read more here.
VERMONT
An unnamed bystander injured during a police shooting in Burlington on Saturday has slammed the rogue cops’ mishandling of the situation: “This incident shows us all why we need to reform both how mental health crises are responded to and [the Burlington Police Department’s] use of force policies,” they wrote on Twitter.
Read more here.
MARYLAND
The ACLU of Maryland highlights the case of Anton Black, the 19-year-old who died under police custody in 2018. On August 12, Anton’s family reached a “milestone” partial settlement that “focuses as much on implementing reforms aimed at saving other families from future police violence as it does on providing monetary relief.”
Read more here.
A federal grand jury has indicted rogue cop Phillip Dupree for his egregious misconduct during an August 2019 traffic stop. The former officer pepper-sprayed the victim, identified as T.S., with “unreasonable use of force,” and then submitted a statement that “offered a false justification” for his violent actions.
Read more here.
ILLINOIS
Rogue Chicago sergeant Michael Vitellaro, who violently pinned down a 14-year-old boy he wrongly accused of stealing his son’s bike, faces battery charges and has been relieved of his policing powers in connection with the incident. “We are so grateful for…progress towards accountability and towards justice,” said the victim’s mother, Nicole Nieves.
Read more here.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s approach to public safety leaves much to be desired, argues Alexandra Block from the ACLU of Illinois in a recent op-ed. “Real reform needs to be driven by community members who have suffered police violence…and have insight into needed changes,” Block wrote.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
Newsweek: Town’s Black Citizens Sue Police Department Over Mississippi ‘Martial Law’
“The complaint…says there is a pattern and culture of racism at the police department that requires further investigation and accountability. ‘The culture of Lexington is corrupt,’ the lawsuit states. ‘The city is in a sense under its own martial law with Black citizens held hostage to the police, afraid to even move.’”
Read more here.
Now This: 3 Arkansas Officers Suspended After Video Captures Beating
“State police identified the [victim] as Randall Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina. The video posted online shows one officer punching Worcester with a clenched fist, while another can be seen kneeing him, and a third is holding him down.”
Read more here.
Fox 29: Fanta Bility Shooting: Activists Motion for Release of Redacted Report on Deadly Police Shooting
“During a Thursday night meeting activists presented borough council members with a letter demanding the release of the hidden information. The letter reads: ‘In order to make things right, you have to acknowledge what went wrong and tell us how you are correcting the problems that exist within the department.’”
Read more here.
WNDU: Fatal Police Shooting Victim’s Mother Calls for Justice
“On Saturday, Marcia Kittrell, Dante’s mother…[asked] the community to unite and demand change within local law enforcement and mental health services. ‘My son would be alive today, if somebody from mental health, not the police, but somebody from mental health [came on the scene],’ Kittrell said.”
Read more here.
CBS 19: Landlord Gets $50K After Deputies Use Taser in False Arrest
“A jury has awarded $50,000 to a northern Virginia landlord who was shot three times with a stun gun when sheriff’s deputies wrongly arrested him following a tenant’s complaint. . . .‘If you have a lot of power, you’ve got to be careful how you exercise that power,’ [Judge T.S.] Ellis told the lawyers at the trial’s outset. . . . ‘It was a mistake a law enforcement officer should not have made.’”
Read more here.
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