13-Year-Old Killed in LA Police Shooting
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) referred to the killing of a Black eighth-grader by Los Angeles officers Sunday as another instance of police behaving “as judge, jury and executioner.”
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“When I learned about the killing of 13-year-old Devin Brown, an African-American boy, on the street corner in South Central Los Angeles, quite frankly, my reaction was, ‘Once again, the police in our community act as judge, jury and executioner,’ “ Waters said in a press release.
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According to police accounts, two officers fired 10 rounds at the vehicle, operated by Brown, after the youth led them on short chase and backed the car into a police cruiser, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
People on the news are suggesting that the killing might have been racially motivated.
Someone is always on the lookout for “the next Rodney King.” I have news for you: Rodney King had it coming, and so did this kid.
If you attack a police officer, his authorized to subdue you, using his nightstick if needed. If you keep trying to get up and attack him, he can keep on hitting. If you attack a police officer with a deadly weapon, like a car, he is authorized to use lethal force against you.
Nevermind that in this latest case the police would have no way of knowing that the person driving the car was black, or was merely a child. They would be justified even if they had known. If you attack a police officer, you forfeit all rights to whine like a bitch when they beat your stupid ass. Anyone who plays the race card when force is justifiably used is a race-baiting half-wit who knows no purpose in life but to profit from creating racial tension where there is none.
I don’t deny that some cops have been shown to be prejudiced, and have violated civil rights. But don’t even bother trying to tell me that either of these cases was motivated by race. The force was justified, period. If it was justified, what is there to claim was motivated by racial issues? That’s like complaining that you got a speeding ticket because of your race. Were you speeding? Then shut up, you had it coming!
Update: the LA Times has a more detailed account of the events:
According to police, Officer Steve Garcia and his partner were on routine patrol early Sunday morning near Gage and Grand avenues when they saw a maroon Toyota Camry run a red light.
The officers followed the car onto the Harbor Freeway and tried to pull the driver over.
A three-minute chase ended when the driver left the freeway, lost control of the Toyota and drove onto the sidewalk near Western Avenue. The officers then parked their patrol car behind the Toyota.
A passenger fled. Police said that Devin, who was driving, then backed into the right side of the officers’ car, and Garcia fired 10 times, killing the boy.
Officers said they believed they were pursuing a drunk driver and didn’t know the driver was 13. The other passenger, who is 14, was apprehended.
LA Times: LAPD Speeds Policy on Shots at Vehicles
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the poor bastard deserved what he got. He won’t grow up to be a career criminal. Hit the kids hard when they are young they will learna lesson.
And maxine waters is the f… racist. She has to be the dumbest black in the whole LA area. Ever seen her on TV? illiterate SIDF!!!!!
Talks like a dummy witha 7th grade education.
The people of South LA elected her Do they deserve what they got??? Hell no!!!!
[...] You can check out my earlier post here.During the outcry from the scum of the neighborhood at least a few groups are putting forth some common sense. The Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) today defended members of the LAPD who have come under attack for their role in a shooting involving a juvenile car thief. The suspect allegedly led police on a high- speed chase in a stolen car at 4 a.m. through the streets of Los Angeles. After crashing the stolen car, the suspect rammed into a police cruiser and officers fired at the driver of the stolen car, killing him.LEAA Spokesperson Ted Deeds called the actions of the LAPD officers self-defense saying, “the question is not why these officers used deadly force on a criminal who turned out to be a juvenile, but what was this juvenile doing allegedly stealing cars at four a.m., leading police on a high speed chase and then attempting to use the stolen car as a weapon by ramming the police cruiser?”The facts are that officers in this brief and violent chase instigated by the juvenile car thief had no way of knowing the age of the criminal they were pursuing. Deeds added that the violent act of using a vehicle as a weapon to ram a police car during a pursuit makes the use of deadly force a clear act of self-defense.”This young man is dead because of the choices he made and the actions he took; he was allegedly out stealing cars at four a.m., leading police on a dangerous chase and then attempting to injure or kill police officers as he rammed their patrol car — his age, race and being a good student have nothing to do with it.” said Deeds.Plus the LAPD Chief had a press conference (surprise surprise, since he is just a big showboating politican anyway) that detailed the shooting. Below is the timeline of the chase. In his description of the shooting itself, the chief estimated that “the whole scenario took about six seconds,” from the time the maroon Toyota Camry collided with the patrol car to the time shots were fired.Police officials say the incident began earlier in the evening, when the Camry was stolen from in front of an apartment building in the 2100 block of West 54th Street. Bratton said the owner of the car last saw the vehicle about 12:15 a.m. and noticed it was missing half an hour later, reporting it stolen to the 77th Street Division shortly afterward.At 3:49 a.m., Officer Steve Garcia, who would shoot Devin roughly four minutes later, first saw the Camry at the intersection of Grand and Gage avenues. He and his partner, Officer Dana Grant, both of the Newton Division, which covers a portion of South Los Angeles, then saw the car run a red light where Gage crosses under the Harbor Freeway.The officers radioed a report of a suspected drunk driver. A recording of the call, with sirens audible in the background, was played at Wednesday’s news conference.The officers then pursued the Camry, which ran up onto the curb at Western Avenue and 83rd Street, after apparently failing to make a right turn. Based on skid marks at the scene, Berkow said, the Camry was going 40 to 50 mph at that point.Then, with Grant and Garcia’s patrol car stopped behind it, the Camry moved back 21 feet, striking the police vehicle, Berkow said. The car went back an additional 18 feet — leaving paint marks from its driver’s side mirror on the trunk of the patrol car — before rolling forward to a final stop nearly side-by-side with the patrol car, according to Berkow.Berkow would not say precisely when the shots were fired. But at 3:53 a.m., a call was made from a patrol car from the neighboring 77th Street Division. That police car, at the corner of Western and 83rd, reported a collision between the Camry and Garcia’s patrol car.As they were broadcasting the accident, Bratton said, there was a “very slight hesitation and then reports of shots fired.”An ambulance was requested at 3:56 a.m., police said.Bratton said Devin’s body was found in the driver’s seat. A 14-year-old who fled from the front passenger’s door on foot was arrested near the scene.CNN (I know, I know…hate using them) has this: Ten shots were fired — all coming from the gun of nine-year veteran Steven Garcia, 31. He and his partner, six-year veteran Dana Grant, 26, have been assigned to desk duty during the investigation.A photo showed damage on the police car starting from just forward of its front passenger door and spanning back toward its rear. Another photo showed broken glass inside the police car.Half of the 10 rounds fired by Garcia struck his own patrol car, according to Bratton. The chief said work was still under way to match autopsy results with physical evidence to establish trajectories.Although real early in the investigation, it sure looks like the car didn’t just give the patrol car a love tap. It travelled 21 feet into the passenger side door. That is a deadly force situation folks and based on the above I would conclude the officers will be fine in this shooting. The idiots in the community can get all worked up but they will be fine.Perfect example is the Inglewood caper. A couple of Inglewood cops we’re helping some Deputies during a traffic stop at a gas station for expired registration. The driver, a 16 year old punk was being a jackass and wouldn’t follow their commands. They put their hands on him and turned him around at which point the kid grabbed Officer Morse’ balls and squeezed. Morse picks him up and slam’s him into the trunk. All of this is videotaped and whahooo! the community goes all a twitter. The mayor on the first day calls the officers actions inexusable, way to back your employee’s huh? They get fired except the one black Inglewood cop gets a few days suspension, that’s kinda weird huh?Jurors agreed with former officers Jeremy Morse and Bijan Darvish, who claimed they had been discriminated against by the city when they were not allowed to return to their jobs. The ruling results in a $2.4 million award.Morse, 26, who is white, was shown on the tape slamming a black teen, Donovan Jackson, to the trunk of a police car at an Inglewood gas station and punching him in the face.The July 2002 videotape was broadcast worldwide. Although race was never mentioned in the trials, the image of a white officer battering a black youth made national headlines and sparked angry protests in Inglewood.”It sends a terrible message,” said Mayor Roosevelt Dorn. “If the jury had received the true facts, I have to believe this jury would have come in with a verdict for the city of Inglewood.”Dorn said the attorneys representing the city did a poor job of presenting the facts. The confrontation occurred after Jackson’s father was pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies for driving a car with expired license tags. Jackson’s family said the teenager, then 16, may have responded slowly to officers’ orders because he has a learning disability that makes it difficult for him to process instructions quickly.The run-in videotaped by Mitchell Crooks was aired repeatedly on television. Morse was later fired from his job. The case against Morse, who was charged with assault under the color of authority, ended with a hung jury. Darvish was aquitted of filing a false police report after four days of deliberations.The lawsuit claimed that the city had treated the officers unfairly, allegeding that they were the victims of discrimination because they are both white and Jackson is black.Morse will receive a $1.6 million award. Darvish was awarded $800,000. Last February, an independent arbitrator released a report exonerating Darvish and recommending that the city pay him back wages for his 10-day suspension. The arbitrator wrote that he viewed the tape several times and determined that “in real-life speed, it would have been impossible for anyone to see whether Morse’s hand or right forearm was placed on or across the front of Jackson’s neck.” Smith said the Los Angeles Superior Court jury — which deliberated about a day in the case — “did the right thing” in awarding the damages.He said when the jurors in Judge William Fahey’s courtroom initially were questioned about their knowledge of the incident, they had negative feelings about Morse and what occurred — feelings based on video clips widely shown on news broadcasts.Smith said those feelings changed after the jurors heard the two officers’ side of what took place. “It was the first time anybody had heard their story about what happened,” Smith said. Attorney Paul Coble, who represented Inglewood in the case, said he believed the jurors seemed to focus on whether the discipline Morse and Darvish received “was fair, when the legal description provided by the judge was whether or not the action was based on race.”Coble said the plaintiffs stressed that another black officer at the scene of the incident received a suspension half as long as Darvish’s. He said the city police chief explained the lighter suspension was issued because that officer was still in his probationary period.”It leaves one scratching one’s head as to how the (punishment) of the city could have been so unfair when the Los Angeles County grand jury returned two felony indictments” based on the same conduct, Coble added.If the facts of the case hold up then the LAPD officers will be just fine.Check out Tempus Fugit, California Conservatives, and Michael Williams for some great comments on this incident. [...]
Fuck the police. Killing 8th graders. Now pulling guns on 7 year olds in Pittsburgh.
Handcuffing 5 year olds.
Cops are nothing but pussies. The police realize that they can kill anyone for not obeying their commands.
What that kid deserved to die because he might have dented the door of the police car.
Come on you stupid cops, would a little game of bumper cars been that bad.
Nooooooo. It’s better to kill a child than to dent your donut cruiser.
I’ve noticed a LOT of unjustifiable murders by police in the last decade. Cops frequently kill the mentally ill, deranged, drunken and drugged, even old people with sticks, the blind and children. They always claim they “were in fear for their lives.” Well, I find a WV website, to describe just 1 minute of searching, which supports murderous cops, and which advises them to always make that claim, regardless of the circumstances, and otherwise to keep their mouths shut.
Cops knew their jobs to be dangerous when they took them; if not, they are even dumber than they seem to be. They claim to be “America’s finest,” and “oh, so brave.” Ha! They are anything but. They are mostly bullies and cowards. If cops are permitted to kill people whenever they “think their lives are threatened,” even when there is virtually no evidence that it ever was, does everyone have that right? Shouldn’t we have our guns ready whenever we encounter cops, if they can legally kill us with virtually no reason at all? Cops are killers in disguise, who enjoy protections not extended to the rest of us. If they do some public service, it is mostly a cover for the real reasons they are cops: for the power, the opportunity to push people around, and the license to kill, legally. Oh, there may be “good cops,” I suppose, maybe. But even those shut their eyes to injustices they witness every day, perpetrated EVERY DAY by other cops and the legal system, and so are complicit in other cop’s crimes. Their “code of silence” is nothing less than a pact for organized crime. I can defend myself against ordinary criminals far better than against criminals in uniform. Cops are little more than criminals with authority, which we’d be better off without.
The only times I’ve ever had encounters with cops, personally (just a few minor traffic “violations,” in 50 years), I was every time lied about and victimized by conspiracies between the police and the courts. For example, one time I was ticketed for an illegal turn on red. I went to traffic court with a good defense. After the cop gave his deposition, and after I had argued my case, the judge (out of the blue) asked the cop when he had his light bar flashing, a factor he never mentioned in his deposition. He DID get that message. He then stated that it had been on the whole time (it had not). The judge then summarily decided I was guilty of failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, and fined me $50! He did NOT give me the opportunity to cross examine the cop on this new testimony, as he was required to by law. If he had, I’d have asked the cop what his emergency was, and how he found time to stop me for a very minor offense, while responding to an emergency! And I might also have asked him why he neglected to mention this key bit of information in his deposition. I’ve personally have been involved in a few other cases, all similarly minor, all revealing serious corruption. What would the police AND the courts stoop to in a case that actually meant something to them? See why I know the system to be rotten?
BTW, that 13 yo boy who backed into the police car and was shot to death by that cop? I think he was just trying to get away. He was NOT attacking the cop. He MIGHT have grown up to contribute more to society that any 1000 cops, if he hadn’t been murdered. He was murdered mostly because he was a kid who didn’t know any better, by a coward who knew he could get away with it. He could have been anyone’s kid. He could easily have been YOURS.
[...] out Tempus Fugit, California Conservatives, and Michael Williams for some great comments on this [...]
Fucking bastards the nerve of them to shoot a 13 year older. what the fuck is next?? And for you people who dont think thats racist then they need to get a fucking life because dont sit up there and tell me that aint fuckingm hatred!!!! it dont take a fucking rocket scientist to figure that shit out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!