Remember this and your cheering? Sure you do. How do both palms have exit wounds?
Autopsy report says ‘Cop City’ protester had hands raised when killed
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — An environmental activist who was fatally shot in a confrontation with Georgia law enforcement in January was sitting cross-legged with their hands in the air at the time, the protester’s family said Monday as they released results of an autopsy they commissioned.
The family of Manuel Paez Terán held a news conference in Decatur to announce the findings and the filing of an open-records lawsuit seeking to force Atlanta police to release more evidence about the Jan. 18 killing of Paez Terán, who went by the name Tortuguita and used the pronoun they.
The family’s attorneys said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which has been probing the shooting for nearly two months, has prevented Atlanta police from releasing additional evidence to the family.
“Manuel was looking death in the face, hands raised when killed,” civil rights attorney Brian Spears said, citing the autopy’s conclusions. “We do not stand here today telling you that we know what happened. The second autopsy is a snapshot of what happened, but it is not the whole story. What we want is simple: GBI, meet with the family and release the investigative report.”
In a statement, the bureau said it’s preventing “inappropriate release of evidence,” to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
Authorities have said officers killed Paez Terán after the 26-year-old shot and seriously injured a state trooper while officers cleared activists from an Atlanta-area forest where officials plan to build a huge police and firefighter training center. The GBI statement says the investigation continues to support the agency’s initial assessment of what happened.
7 deputies charged with murder in the death of Irvo Otieno in custody
By SARAH RANKIN
Today
DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Video from a state mental hospital shows a Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned to the ground by seven deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to relatives of the man and their attorneys who viewed the footage Thursday. Three people employed by the hospital have also been charged.
Speaking at a news conference shortly after watching the video with a local prosecutor, the family and attorneys condemned the brutal treatment they said Irvo Otieno, 28, was subjected to, first at a local jail and then at the state hospital where authorities say he died March 6 during the admission process.
They called on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, saying Otieno's constitutional rights were clearly violated.
“What I saw today was heartbreaking, America. It was disturbing. It was traumatic. My son was tortured," said Otieno's mother, Caroline Ouko.
Otieno's case marks the latest example of a Black man's in-custody death that has law enforcement under scrutiny. It follows the the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year and comes nearly three years after the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
“It is truly shocking that nearly three years after the brutal killing of George Floyd by police, another family is grieving a loved one who allegedly died in nearly the exact same manner — being pinned down by police for 12 agonizing minutes," Crump said in a statement.
Mark Krudys, another attorney for Otieno's family, said at the news conference that the video showed all seven of the deputies now facing charges pushing down on Otieno, who was in handcuffs and leg irons.
“You can see that they’re putting their back into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down with absolute brutality," he said.
Ten people so far have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno's death. The seven Henrico County Sheriff's deputies were charged Tuesday and additional charges were announced Thursday against three people who were employed by the hospital.
The footage the family watched Thursday has not been publicly released. But Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill also described it in court Wednesday, saying at the first hearing for the deputies that Otieno was smothered to death, local news outlets reported.
Baskervill said Otieno did not appear combative and was sitting in a chair before being pulled to the ground by the officers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
She announced Thursday in a news release the additional charges against the hospital employees: Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg; Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield; and Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie. They were being held without bond, and it wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf. A spokeswoman for the state police said she didn’t know if they had obtained counsel, and none were listed in court records. The news release did not say what role they are alleged to have had in Otieno's death.
Additional charges and arrests are pending, Baskervill said.
Otieno, who was a child when his family emigrated from Kenya and grew up in suburban Richmond, had a history of mental health struggles and was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, his family and their attorneys said.
That set off a chain of events that led to him spending several days in custody before authorities say he died March 6 as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital south of Richmond.
Krudys said the footage from the hospital also showed a lack of urgency to help Otieno after the deputies determined "that he was lifeless and not breathing.”
Otieno was a deeply loved young man, an aspiring musician who had been a well-known high school athlete, Krudys said.
“There is goodness in his music and that's all I'm left with now — he's gone,” Ouko said at the news conference while clutching a framed photo of her son.
“I cannot be at his wedding. I’ll never see a grandchild ... because someone refused to help him. No one stood up to stop what was going on,” she said.
Otieno was first taken into custody March 3, according to a timeline provided by Henrico County Police, a separate agency from the sheriff's office.
The police department said in a news release that officers encountered Otieno while responding to a report of a possible burglary in suburban Richmond, and that based on his behavior, they put him under an emergency custody order and took him to a local hospital for evaluation.
According to Krudys, Otieno was experiencing a mental health crisis and a neighbor called police over concerns about him gathering lawn lights from a yard. He said Otieno's mother tried to de-escalate the initial response from a crowd of police officers and said the family supported him being taken to a hospital for treatment.
But while he was at the hospital, police said he became “became physically assaultive toward officers, who arrested him” and took him to a local jail that is managed by the Henrico Sheriff’s Office, where he was served with several charges.
While Otieno was in jail, he was denied access to needed medications, the family attorneys said. The family also viewed video from that facility on Thursday, which they said showed Otieno was subjected to further brutality by unidentified officers.
Crump said he was pepper sprayed, and Krudys said the video showed officers on March 6 charging into his cell, which was covered in feces, as Otieno was naked and handcuffed. The video shows officers carrying an “almost lifeless” Otieno out by his arms and legs “like an animal” to a vehicle to be transported to the state hospital.
“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog," Ouko said.
Shannon Taylor, the commonwealth’s attorney for Henrico County, said in a statement Thursday that she’s conducting a review of what happened in the jail that day, and she pledged to release her findings. The Henrico sheriff declined comment beyond a statement released earlier in the week.
Around 4 p.m. on March 6, employees of the sheriff's office arrived at Central State Hospital to admit Otieno, according to Baskervill. It was not until 7:28 p.m. that evening that state police were called to investigate his death, she said.
In court Wednesday, a defense attorney suggested that two medical injections Otieno received may have played a role in his death, which Baskervill disputed, the Times-Dispatch reported.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not released its final determination on how Otieno died.
Two of the deputies were released on bond, according to court records and local media. The others remained in custody, with hearings set for next week.
Edward Nickel, an attorney for Deputy Bradley Disse, one of the defendants who was released, said in an email Thursday that Disse has served “honorably” during a 20-year career with the sheriff's department.
“He is looking forward to his opportunity to try this case and for the full truth to be shared in court and ultimately vindicated,” Nickel said in an email.
The Associated Press sent emails and other inquiries and left messages Thursday attempting to reach attorneys listed in court records for the other deputies.
The Henrico Fraternal Order of Police-Lodge 4 stood by the deputies in a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, urging against a rush to judgment and stressing that the charges are yet to go through the rigors of the legal system.
News outlets, including AP, have sought video of the altercation. Officials are withholding it, citing the pending investigation. Crump said Thursday the family believes the public should see the footage.
“How do we build trust unless we have transparency, and then we have accountability?” he said.
___
Associated Press reporter Ben Finley in Norfolk contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
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Supervisor in Tyre Nichols' death retired before firing
Yesterday
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis police supervisor on scene when Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by officers retired with his benefits the day before a hearing to fire him, according to documents filed to revoke his law enforcement certification.
Lt. DeWayne Smith was identified Friday in records obtained by media outlets as the officer that officials said earlier this month had retired before his termination hearing.
Some Memphis City Council members were upset an officer was allowed to retire before steps could be taken to fire them, including the council's vice-chairman JB Smiley Jr., who said it didn’t seem fair that the then-unidentified officer could keep pension and other benefits.
“I just don’t like the fact that his parents are paying this officer to go on and live and that’s troubling,” Smiley said.
The attorney for Nichols' family said the department should not have let Smith “cowardly sidestep the consequences of his actions” and retire after 25 years.
"We call for Memphis police and officials to do everything in their power to hold Lt. Smith and all of those involved fully accountable," attorney Ben Crump said.
Seven other Memphis officers were fired after Nichols died following a traffic stop on Jan. 7 and five of them are charged with second-degree murder. Smith is not charged in Nichols' death.
Nichols, 29, was pulled roughly from his car as an officer threatened to shock him with a Taser. He ran, but was chased down. Video showed five officers held him down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother.
The decertification documents against Lt. Smith reveal additional details about his actions that night.
Smith heard Nichols say “I can't breathe” as he was propped up against a squad car, but failed to get him medical care or remove his handcuffs, according to the report.
Smith also didn't get reports from other officers about using force and told Nichols' family he was driving under the influence even though there was no information to support a charge, the documents said. Investigators said Smith decided without evidence that Nichols was on drugs or drunk and video captured him telling Nichols “you done took something" when he arrived at the scene.
Additionally, Smith did not wear his body camera — violating police department policy. His actions were captured on the body cameras of other officers, documents said.
The U.S. Department of Justice is currently reviewing the Memphis Police Department policies on the use of force, de-escalation strategies and specialized units in response to Nichols' death.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Paying the ultimate price for such a ungrateful ACAB public…Rest in Peace Officer, some still respect you and support the Thin Blue Line.
https://apnews.com/article/chicago-police-officer-shot-illinois-b39e98101bd29c7c13d04c36ee007045
Autopsy report says ‘Cop City’ protester had hands raised when killed
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — An environmental activist who was fatally shot in a confrontation with Georgia law enforcement in January was sitting cross-legged with their hands in the air at the time, the protester’s family said Monday as they released results of an autopsy they commissioned.
The family of Manuel Paez Terán held a news conference in Decatur to announce the findings and the filing of an open-records lawsuit seeking to force Atlanta police to release more evidence about the Jan. 18 killing of Paez Terán, who went by the name Tortuguita and used the pronoun they.
READ MORE: Protest in Atlanta over state police killing of environmental activist turns violent
The family’s attorneys said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which has been probing the shooting for nearly two months, has prevented Atlanta police from releasing additional evidence to the family.
“Manuel was looking death in the face, hands raised when killed,” civil rights attorney Brian Spears said, citing the autopy’s conclusions. “We do not stand here today telling you that we know what happened. The second autopsy is a snapshot of what happened, but it is not the whole story. What we want is simple: GBI, meet with the family and release the investigative report.”
In a statement, the bureau said it’s preventing “inappropriate release of evidence,” to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
Authorities have said officers killed Paez Terán after the 26-year-old shot and seriously injured a state trooper while officers cleared activists from an Atlanta-area forest where officials plan to build a huge police and firefighter training center. The GBI statement says the investigation continues to support the agency’s initial assessment of what happened.
Autopsy report says ‘Cop City’ protester had hands raised when killed | PBS NewsHour
'Cop City' protester's hands were raised when fatally shot by officers, family says - CNN
"If you're looking down on someone, it better be to extend them a hand to lift them up."
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/06/the-cost-of-police-misconduct-honolulu-spent-over-18-million-in-legal-settlements/
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Video from a state mental hospital shows a Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned to the ground by seven deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to relatives of the man and their attorneys who viewed the footage Thursday. Three people employed by the hospital have also been charged.
Speaking at a news conference shortly after watching the video with a local prosecutor, the family and attorneys condemned the brutal treatment they said Irvo Otieno, 28, was subjected to, first at a local jail and then at the state hospital where authorities say he died March 6 during the admission process.
They called on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, saying Otieno's constitutional rights were clearly violated.
“What I saw today was heartbreaking, America. It was disturbing. It was traumatic. My son was tortured," said Otieno's mother, Caroline Ouko.
Otieno's case marks the latest example of a Black man's in-custody death that has law enforcement under scrutiny. It follows the the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year and comes nearly three years after the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
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Ben Crump, who represented Floyd's family and is now working with Otieno's, quickly drew a comparison.
“It is truly shocking that nearly three years after the brutal killing of George Floyd by police, another family is grieving a loved one who allegedly died in nearly the exact same manner — being pinned down by police for 12 agonizing minutes," Crump said in a statement.
Mark Krudys, another attorney for Otieno's family, said at the news conference that the video showed all seven of the deputies now facing charges pushing down on Otieno, who was in handcuffs and leg irons.
“You can see that they’re putting their back into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down with absolute brutality," he said.
Ten people so far have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno's death. The seven Henrico County Sheriff's deputies were charged Tuesday and additional charges were announced Thursday against three people who were employed by the hospital.
The footage the family watched Thursday has not been publicly released. But Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill also described it in court Wednesday, saying at the first hearing for the deputies that Otieno was smothered to death, local news outlets reported.
Baskervill said Otieno did not appear combative and was sitting in a chair before being pulled to the ground by the officers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
She announced Thursday in a news release the additional charges against the hospital employees: Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg; Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield; and Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie. They were being held without bond, and it wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf. A spokeswoman for the state police said she didn’t know if they had obtained counsel, and none were listed in court records. The news release did not say what role they are alleged to have had in Otieno's death.
Additional charges and arrests are pending, Baskervill said.
Otieno, who was a child when his family emigrated from Kenya and grew up in suburban Richmond, had a history of mental health struggles and was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, his family and their attorneys said.
That set off a chain of events that led to him spending several days in custody before authorities say he died March 6 as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital south of Richmond.
Krudys said the footage from the hospital also showed a lack of urgency to help Otieno after the deputies determined "that he was lifeless and not breathing.”
Otieno was a deeply loved young man, an aspiring musician who had been a well-known high school athlete, Krudys said.
“There is goodness in his music and that's all I'm left with now — he's gone,” Ouko said at the news conference while clutching a framed photo of her son.
“I cannot be at his wedding. I’ll never see a grandchild ... because someone refused to help him. No one stood up to stop what was going on,” she said.
Otieno was first taken into custody March 3, according to a timeline provided by Henrico County Police, a separate agency from the sheriff's office.
The police department said in a news release that officers encountered Otieno while responding to a report of a possible burglary in suburban Richmond, and that based on his behavior, they put him under an emergency custody order and took him to a local hospital for evaluation.
According to Krudys, Otieno was experiencing a mental health crisis and a neighbor called police over concerns about him gathering lawn lights from a yard. He said Otieno's mother tried to de-escalate the initial response from a crowd of police officers and said the family supported him being taken to a hospital for treatment.
But while he was at the hospital, police said he became “became physically assaultive toward officers, who arrested him” and took him to a local jail that is managed by the Henrico Sheriff’s Office, where he was served with several charges.
While Otieno was in jail, he was denied access to needed medications, the family attorneys said. The family also viewed video from that facility on Thursday, which they said showed Otieno was subjected to further brutality by unidentified officers.
Crump said he was pepper sprayed, and Krudys said the video showed officers on March 6 charging into his cell, which was covered in feces, as Otieno was naked and handcuffed. The video shows officers carrying an “almost lifeless” Otieno out by his arms and legs “like an animal” to a vehicle to be transported to the state hospital.
“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog," Ouko said.
Shannon Taylor, the commonwealth’s attorney for Henrico County, said in a statement Thursday that she’s conducting a review of what happened in the jail that day, and she pledged to release her findings. The Henrico sheriff declined comment beyond a statement released earlier in the week.
Around 4 p.m. on March 6, employees of the sheriff's office arrived at Central State Hospital to admit Otieno, according to Baskervill. It was not until 7:28 p.m. that evening that state police were called to investigate his death, she said.
In court Wednesday, a defense attorney suggested that two medical injections Otieno received may have played a role in his death, which Baskervill disputed, the Times-Dispatch reported.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not released its final determination on how Otieno died.
Two of the deputies were released on bond, according to court records and local media. The others remained in custody, with hearings set for next week.
Edward Nickel, an attorney for Deputy Bradley Disse, one of the defendants who was released, said in an email Thursday that Disse has served “honorably” during a 20-year career with the sheriff's department.
“He is looking forward to his opportunity to try this case and for the full truth to be shared in court and ultimately vindicated,” Nickel said in an email.
The Associated Press sent emails and other inquiries and left messages Thursday attempting to reach attorneys listed in court records for the other deputies.
The Henrico Fraternal Order of Police-Lodge 4 stood by the deputies in a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, urging against a rush to judgment and stressing that the charges are yet to go through the rigors of the legal system.
News outlets, including AP, have sought video of the altercation. Officials are withholding it, citing the pending investigation. Crump said Thursday the family believes the public should see the footage.
“How do we build trust unless we have transparency, and then we have accountability?” he said.
___
Associated Press reporter Ben Finley in Norfolk contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis police supervisor on scene when Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by officers retired with his benefits the day before a hearing to fire him, according to documents filed to revoke his law enforcement certification.
Lt. DeWayne Smith was identified Friday in records obtained by media outlets as the officer that officials said earlier this month had retired before his termination hearing.
Some Memphis City Council members were upset an officer was allowed to retire before steps could be taken to fire them, including the council's vice-chairman JB Smiley Jr., who said it didn’t seem fair that the then-unidentified officer could keep pension and other benefits.
“I just don’t like the fact that his parents are paying this officer to go on and live and that’s troubling,” Smiley said.
The attorney for Nichols' family said the department should not have let Smith “cowardly sidestep the consequences of his actions” and retire after 25 years.
"We call for Memphis police and officials to do everything in their power to hold Lt. Smith and all of those involved fully accountable," attorney Ben Crump said.
Seven other Memphis officers were fired after Nichols died following a traffic stop on Jan. 7 and five of them are charged with second-degree murder. Smith is not charged in Nichols' death.
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Nichols, 29, was pulled roughly from his car as an officer threatened to shock him with a Taser. He ran, but was chased down. Video showed five officers held him down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother.
The decertification documents against Lt. Smith reveal additional details about his actions that night.
Smith heard Nichols say “I can't breathe” as he was propped up against a squad car, but failed to get him medical care or remove his handcuffs, according to the report.
Smith also didn't get reports from other officers about using force and told Nichols' family he was driving under the influence even though there was no information to support a charge, the documents said. Investigators said Smith decided without evidence that Nichols was on drugs or drunk and video captured him telling Nichols “you done took something" when he arrived at the scene.
Additionally, Smith did not wear his body camera — violating police department policy. His actions were captured on the body cameras of other officers, documents said.
The U.S. Department of Justice is currently reviewing the Memphis Police Department policies on the use of force, de-escalation strategies and specialized units in response to Nichols' death.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14