Quote:UNCTION CITY, Kan. (KSNT) – In a joint press conference with McDonald’s Monday night, Herington’s police chief said the coffee cup incident was a hoax.
Chief Brian Hornaday said McDonald’s didn’t have anything to do with writing obscenities on an officer’s coffee, and that it was “fabricated by a police officer no longer employed with the agency.”
“Now, this is absolutely a black eye on law enforcement,” Hornaday said. “I truly hope that the former officer of the Herington Police Department that did this, I hope he understands the magnitude of the black eye that this gives the law enforcement profession from coast to coast. None of us can be excluded from that.”
The officer, who won’t be identified since it is a “personnel matter,” told the chief it was meant to be a joke.
Hornaday said the 23-year-old officer was with the department for two months, lives in Junction City and previously served in the U.S. Army as a military police officer for five years.
Please note: They spelled "won't be identified so he can be hired a couple towns over next month" wrong.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Quote:Officers falsely portrayed people as gang members, falsified records, LAPD says
More than a dozen Los Angeles police officers with the elite Metro Division are being investigated on suspicion of falsifying information they gathered during stops and wrongly portraying people as gang members or associates, according to multiple sources.
The officers, assigned to special patrols in South Los Angeles, are suspected of falsifying field interview cards during stops and inputting incorrect information about those questioned in an effort to boost stop statistics.
In at least one case, body camera and car recordings did not match the accounts in the field interview cards, according to the sources.
Some of the officers have been removed from active duty, the sources said.
Chief Michel Moore on Monday reached out to some civic leaders in South L.A. to explain the investigation.
“An officer’s integrity must be absolute. There is no place in the Department for any individual who would purposely falsify information on a Department report,” Moore said in a statement.
The LAPD issued a lengthy statement on Monday explaining that the investigation began after a San Fernando Valley mother received a written correspondence from the department in early 2019 informing her that her son had been identified as a gang member. She believed her son was misidentified and reported the mistake to a supervisor at a nearby police station.
According to the LAPD, the supervisor immediately reviewed the circumstances, including “body worn video and other information, finding inaccuracies in the documentation completed by an officer.”
The parent was notified that her son would not be identified as a gang member and any references to him as such were removed, the department said. The LAPD then launched an internal investigation into the actions of three involved officers.
“Over the course of several months, Internal Affairs investigators have continued their investigation resulting in identifying additional inaccuracies in the documentation on field interview cards completed by those officers as well as others,” the LAPD statement read.
All of the officers involved were assigned to Metropolitan Division crime suppression duties at the time the inaccurate documentation was completed, the statement continued. “Given the serious nature of the alleged misconduct, all involved officers have been assigned to inactive duty or removed from the field.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents officers, said in a statement that it was “aware of reports of discrepancies contained on a limited number of field interview cards that the department is looking into.” It also expressed confidence that Moore “will oversee a thorough and fair process to determine the facts and to also ensure that any impacted officer is accorded his or her due process rights.”
A Times investigation published last January showed that Metro officers stopped African American drivers at a rate more than five times their share of the city’s population. To combat a surge in violent crime, the LAPD doubled the size of its Metropolitan Division in 2015, creating special units to swarm crime hot spots.
Nearly half the drivers stopped by Metro are black, which has helped drive up the share of African Americans stopped by the LAPD overall from 21% to 28% since the Metro expansion, in a city that is 9% black, according to the analysis.
In response, the LAPD announced last fall it would drastically cut back on pulling over random vehicles. At the time, Moore said Metro’s vehicle stops had not proved effective, netting about one arrest for every 100 cars stopped, while coming at a tremendous cost to innocent drivers who felt they were being racially profiled. Officials said Metro crime suppression officers, who number about 200, would instead track down suspects wanted in violent offenses and use strategies other than vehicle stops to address flare-ups in crimes such as burglaries and shootings.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
I remember first meeting Mr. Barbosa. In interview cells attached to the cage behind the arraignment courtroom in Brooklyn criminal court. Like everyone I represent I don’t get to choose. I just happened to be working that day, & a file with his name & charges was handed to me.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]The charges were serious. Detective Bergman claimed that after stopping Mr. Barbosa’s car, he accelerated backwards at a high rate of speed, then turned the car toward the Detective. Was right in between headlines. [/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]And slammed on gas. Bergman dove out of the way to save his life.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Mr. Barbosa was in a world of trouble. Charged w/ attempted assault in first degree. A Class C violent felony. A brazen act of violence. I wondered what he was thinking. What motivated this? I walked thru the door into the jail directly behind the “In God We Trust” sign in court.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]I called his name & he walked in. Tired. Not feeling well. Shaking his head. I told him his charges. And he *forcefully* denied it. “Didn’t happen. These cops have been harassing me for months. I was parked. They pulled up. I drove off. That was it.” I pressed him more.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]“Why on earth would they make something like this up?” I asked. Cops lie all the time. To justify bad stops & frisks, excessive use of force. Sometimes they plant evidence. Big lies. Small lies. Here: there was no motivation. He wasn’t injured. They didn’t find anything on him.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]“I honesty don’t know. They don’t like me, but saying I did this?” He trailed off. Put head down. He was really upset. I was having a hard time still believing him. “So you just pulled out? Didn’t accidentally almost hit him?” [/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]He shook his head no. “I’ll look for video,” I said.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]A reaction to the idea of video surveillance can sometimes be a tell. If not so enthusiastic, it’s likely the video won’t be helpful. But he jumped up:
“There’s video?!”
“I don’t know. I’ll definitely be looking for it.”
“Please, please do. Otherwise it’s my word vs. his.”
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Mr. Barbosa knew the reality then: Police can generally say whatever they want. And they know that generally, no matter what, prosecutors, judges, & in the rare case that makes it that far, juries, will believe them over the accused. He was in a serious predicament. Life & death.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Based on this allegation, Mr. Barbosa was remanded to Rikers Island by parole. While he sat on Rikers, Det. Bergman made the decision to take his lie a step further. He could’ve stopped w/ the lie in paperwork. Just let it go. Instead he decided to testify before the grand jury.
[/color]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Under oath, he told the grand jury a story out of an action movie. How he had to leap out of the way to save his life. How he scratched his arm on the pavement. How he thought he was going to die. The grand jury believed him & voted to indict Barbosa. Thankfully, there was video. [/color]
I happen to be blessed to work in a public defender office w/ more resources than most. We have a team of investigators, who spend all day everyday in the field. Witness interviews. Taking measurements. Visiting crime scenes. Tracking down video surveillance. They’re incredible.
Just to stress the point. Most defender offices in the country don’t have *any* investigators. A large number of offices don’t have funding to meet their clients at first appearances but have to wait days, sometimes weeks. By then video taped over. Evidence gone. Memories faded.
Just to stress the point about lack of access to counsel further: There are large swaths of the country that don’t even have defender offices at all. Judges appoint private attorneys, who get paid relative pennies for it, let alone enough to encourage them to investigate. A sham.
Ok. Back to the nightmare that now-ex NYPD Detective Michael Bergman maliciously inflicted on my client, Pedro Barbosa. And the video that saved his life.
I remember when Julia knocked on my door. “I got video surveillance in the Barbosa case. They lied. It’s clear.” She talked the owner of a car mechanic shop to let her copy it. She handed me a DVD. Popped it into my computer & watched. “Holy sh*t!” “I know, right!?” she said.
Here is the video the investigator Julia found that exposed Det. Bergman’s lie. Mr. Barbosa parallel parks. Unmarked car pulls up. He drives off. No accelerating back. No aiming car at Bergman (driver’s side). No diving out of way. A complete fabrication.
Here is another version of the video that exposed ex-NYPD detective Michael Bergman’s perjury.
@nowthisnews published it with a play by play rundown.
Armed with the video, I filed a motion to dismiss the charges comparing Bergman’s testimony with what actually happened (with time stamps) & submitted the motion along with a copy of the video surveillance. I got a call from the prosecutor less than a day later. He was stunned.
“I watched the video. Um.” He had a hard time finding words. “Well. We’re obviously going to dismiss.” I was so relieved. I’m so used to prosecutors giving cops every imaginable benefit of the doubt, I thought there was a chance they’d find a way to see something I couldn’t.
Then prosecutor asks me: “Why do you think he did this?” I told him I had no idea. But reminded him that police lie all the time. This one happened to be obvious bc it was on video. But cops lying unfortunately is an epidemic in forces around the country. I felt like a teacher.
The prosecutor also told me that the Brooklyn DA’s new “Police Accountability Unit” would be considering prosecuting. I said that was fine, but more pressing: his office should be investigating every case the detective ever worked on. “That’s out of my control, but I agree.”
Det. Bergman, accused of lying under oath to imprison an innocent man for up to 15 years, was released w/o bail. No outcry of course from @nypost, police & prosecutors who, as I type, are peddling their own lies to kill new bail reforms so they can jail more Black & Brown people.
I later found out, this time from @nypost, that Bergman had pled guilty. The Post of course didn’t disparage Bergman as a “criminal,” “thug,” “goon,” “felon,” or “con” like they do Black people charged w/ far less. But they did call Mr. Barbosa “the perp.”
Bergman was fired. A near impossibility. Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence him to a year in jail. Brooklyn DA made this statement: “The justice system must be able to rely on the integrity & credibility of our police to keep our communities safe & ensure equal justice.”
Today I heard the news. The Judge took the rare step—at least in cases of people I represent—of undercutting the prosecution request for jail time & sentencing Michael Bergman to probation. As far as I know, this judge only sentences cops to probation. No matter what. Examples —>
Akai Gurley (left) was killed by Officer Laing while walking in the stairwell of a building. Laing received probation.
2 months later, same judge sentenced Marcell Dockery (right), a teen who set fire to a mattress accidentally killing a responding officer, to 19 years to life. Michael Bergman did one of the worst things a human being could ever do to another: give false testimony that would put them in jail wrongfully. He did so brazenly and maliciously. He lied in sworn testimony before a grand jury.
If investigators in my office had not found video that proved his lie, Mr. Barbosa faced a mandatory minimum of 3.5 years and a maximum of 15 years in prison. Police lying is an epidemic not just in the NYPD, but in police forces around the country.
Police lie because they know they’ll rarely if ever be held to account. It is a good thing Bergman was fired and prosecuted. But probation? I just hope that this punishment sends the necessary message of zero tolerance to all on the force. I fear it won’t.
Many are rightfully asking “what about Bergman’s partner?” The partner knew about the lie but said nothing. I wish I knew anything about the partner. But I don’t even know his name. NYPD withholding all info. The reason they’re even allowed to is NY “Civil Rights Law 50-a.”
“50-a” is one the most restrictive police anti-transparency laws in country. Blocks disclosure to defense, prosecutors, public. Only Delaware comes close. There is a campaign now to #repeal50a. Demand @NYPDnews release his name & take appropriate action.
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84)]Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.[/color]
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Quote:Videos show off-duty officer fatally shooting Vallejo man
Associated Press
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — The city of Vallejo released four surveillance videos showing a city resident retrieving a gun from his van during an argument over a parking spot with an off-duty police officer, who then fatally shoots the man as he walks away.
The four videos without audio released Tuesday on the city’s YouTube channel show Richmond Police Sgt. Virgil Thomas and Eric Reason, 38, arguing after Thomas pulls into a parking spot. Moments later, Reason walks to his van stopped in the middle of the parking lot, opens the hood of his van and retrieves a weapon wrapped in a rag.
Reason returns to where Thomas is standing while holding the gun. The two again exchange words before Thomas pulls out a weapon from his waist and starts shooting at Reason as he walks away.
As Reason runs away, the 27-year police veteran then rushes to the middle of the parking lot and continues to fire at Reason while he runs toward the street, where he falls to the ground. Reason was pronounced dead at the scene.
An attorney for the Reason family said Reason was shot in the back of the head, the East Bay Times reported.
Thomas was put on administrative leave pending the investigation, which is being conducted by Vallejo police and the Solano County District Attorney.
Days after the Nov. 10 shooting, Vallejo police issued a statement saying Thomas was legally defending himself, though the investigation is ongoing.
Richmond police union president Ben Therriault said in a statement Tuesday that the video proves Thomas acted in self-defense.
“The video clearly reinforces that unfortunately, a firearm was introduced unnecessarily by Mr. Reason. Regrettably, this placed Sgt. Thomas in a position where he was forced to protect himself and the public,” Therriault said.
Melissa Nold, a civil rights attorney representing the Reason’s family, has previously accused Thomas of escalating the situation and provoking the deadly result.
“This video shows a cold-blooded murder,” Nold told the newspaper. “I want to know why Eric Reason’s murderer isn’t in custody.”
Reason was known as a local rapper who went by the stage name “Cheddaman.” Relatives told KTVU that Reason was a father of six who was working in construction.
Just one of the videos.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
With regards to the parking spot, the cop was in the wrong. The other man was politely waiting for the man to close his door before turning into the spot.
With regards to getting his rag wrapped gun, the other man was wrong straight up. He also put his life in danger by escalating it beyond telling the guy off from his car. People are crazy.
After the other man turns to walk away, the cop seems to unnecessarily shoot him from behind. I cannot say without audio, though. If he did not warn him that he was a cop and he should drop the gun and get on the ground, I have a hard time believing he was acting in self defense.
(01-24-2020, 07:12 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Anytime you leave a confrontation, go get a gun, and then re-enter the confrontation you are liable to get shot.
The presence of guns change everything when you talk about people feeling threatened and justified in shooting another person.
At that point you've also demonstrated that you appearing to "leave" is no longer a guarantee that it's a non-threatening move.
(01-24-2020, 09:06 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: With regards to the parking spot, the cop was in the wrong. The other man was politely waiting for the man to close his door before turning into the spot.
With regards to getting his rag wrapped gun, the other man was wrong straight up. He also put his life in danger by escalating it beyond telling the guy off from his car. People are crazy.
After the other man turns to walk away, the cop seems to unnecessarily shoot him from behind. I cannot say without audio, though. If he did not warn him that he was a cop and he should drop the gun and get on the ground, I have a hard time believing he was acting in self defense.
Guy already walked away once and came back with a rag wrapped gun from under the hood of his car to threaten with.
Zero chance I am letting that guy be able to shoot while my wife sits defenseless in my car... or get in position to unload a magazine into me/my car before driving away.
There is zero reason to ever trust that someone who walks away to come back with a gun wrapped in rags hidden under the hood of their car is going to walk away peacefully this time. I all but guarantee you that is not a legally owned firearm.
(01-24-2020, 10:32 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: At that point you've also demonstrated that you appearing to "leave" is no longer a guarantee that it's a non-threatening move.
Guy already walked away once and came back with a rag wrapped gun from under the hood of his car to threaten with.
Zero chance I am letting that guy be able to shoot while my wife sits defenseless in my car... or get in position to unload a magazine into me/my car before driving away.
There is zero reason to ever trust that someone who walks away to come back with a gun wrapped in rags hidden under the hood of their car is going to walk away peacefully this time. I all but guarantee you that is not a legally owned firearm.
I think he’s a threat, but I also think the cop has a responsibility to demand that the guy drop his gun before shooting him in the back as he walks away.
But like I said, I’ll withhold final judgement since I have no clue what they said to each other.
(01-24-2020, 09:06 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: With regards to the parking spot, the cop was in the wrong. The other man was politely waiting for the man to close his door before turning into the spot.
With regards to getting his rag wrapped gun, the other man was wrong straight up. He also put his life in danger by escalating it beyond telling the guy off from his car. People are crazy.
After the other man turns to walk away, the cop seems to unnecessarily shoot him from behind. I cannot say without audio, though. If he did not warn him that he was a cop and he should drop the gun and get on the ground, I have a hard time believing he was acting in self defense.
I suppose the off duty officer could have felt "threatened"...and then continued to feel that way as he continued to shoot a man running away until he was dead.
Heck I'm not even sure if the dead man knew he was arguing with an officer. Maybe that's why he walked away. I'm sure the investigation will explain everything.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Quote:Jury acquits Miami-Dade cop who slapped a handcuffed suspect ‘before he could spit’
JANUARY 29, 2020 04:23 PM
Miami-Dade cop slaps handcuffed suspect
A Miami-Dade police sergeant is under investigation after slapping a handcuffed suspect in March 2018. BY MIAMI-DADE STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Manuel Regueiro swore he had no choice but to slap a handcuffed suspect — because the man was about to spit on him.
“You don’t duck,” Regueiro testified at his trial. “Then, you’re a coward.”
Jurors agreed — the slap was not a crime.
A Miami-Dade jury on Wednesday afternoon acquitted Regueiro of misdemeanor battery in a case that received widespread attention in South Florida because the jarring police use of force was captured on video surveillance.
The loss was the latest for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office in cases against cops for rough arrests. The state lost two recent trials in which cops were accused of striking, or attempting to strike, a handcuffed suspect.
The recent arrests of South Florida police officers come amid increased national scrutiny on law-enforcement tactics, particularly in cases of officers accused of using excessive force against minorities.
In this case, Regueiro and the victim are both Hispanic. The six-person jury featured three men and three women, two of whom were African American.
“Once against the community sided with the heroes,” said C. Michael Cornerly, the sergeant’s defense lawyer. “This was a misguided prosecution. He was only prosecuted because he’s a police officer.”
Jurors in Regueiro’s case deliberated nearly three hours, and at one point told the judge that they were deadlocked by a vote of 3-3. The verdict came nearly one year after the State Attorney’s Office charged Regueiro with misdemeanor battery for slapping the handcuffed man, Bryan Crespo, during an arrest.
Another Miami-Dade police officer, Alex Gonzalez, was also charged with third-degree felony tampering with evidence, and misdemeanor petty theft, for allegedly stealing part of the video-recording system that captured the slap. He is still awaiting trial.
At trial, jurors heard that Crespo, then 18, was being investigated in March of 2018 for allegedly dealing in stolen airbags. The officers were part of the auto-theft unit attached to the Northwest District Station.
They’d gotten arrest warrants for Crespo and two others, and were also accompanied by a Spanish-language television news crew on the night of March 15, 2018.
Detectives raided Crespo’s Allapattah home, which had a surveillance camera rolling inside his living room. The footage shows Crespo, shirtless and cuffed, being led away. Then, he heard someone yell his last name, Crespo told jurors.
“I took a glimpse, a look, and I felt a slap. A real hard slap on my face,” Crespo testified on Tuesday. He recalled the slapping officer say: “This is for all the airbags you stole.”
Crespo said he suffered a “busted lip” — and never tried to spit on Regueiro.
The sergeant, taking the stand in his own defense, claimed he “observed” Crespo “gathering phlegm in his mouth.”
“Before he could spit on me, I had to stop that spit from leaving his mouth,” Regueiro testified on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Kerrie Crockett pressed him on exactly what he saw. Regueiro pursed his lips and inhaled.
“That’s a telltale sign that someone’s about to spit,” Regueiro said.
“Drawing in a breath for air?” Crockett asked.
“Yes, after that comes the phlegm,” Regueiro replied.
On the stand, Reguiro remained defiant, insisting his training dictated he slap, not run away or duck.
“You don’t duck. Then you’re a coward,” Regueiro said.
After the slap, Crespo told the cops on the scene that the attack had been captured on his internal video camera. Footage showed the officers re-entering the apartment and spending time in one of the bedrooms, where the recording system was set up, authorities said.
The footage later cut off. Surveillance footage from a neighbor, prosecutors say, shows Gonzalez taking an object believed to be the battery pack out of the home.
Miami-Dade jurors have more often than not sided with police officers in use-of-force cases.
In August, jurors acquitted Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Gustavo de los Rios, who had been charged with misdemeanor battery for kicking a teenage burglary suspect in Northwest Miami-Dade. De los Rios also claimed the teen was about to spit on him, even through the suspect was handcuffed on the ground.
Four months earlier, a judge acquitted Miami Officer Mario Figueroa for kicking at a handcuffed suspect after a foot chase through Overtown.
In the string of use-of-force cases filed in recent years, prosecutors have secured one conviction. Last summer, a jury convicted Miami Officer Lester Bohnenblust for tossing a nurse to the ground at Jackson Memorial Hospital; Bohnenblust was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
There are two cases awaiting trial. Homestead Police Officer Lester Brown is accused of pushing a handcuffed man’s head into a wall inside the police station. The attack was caught on video. And Miami-Dade Officer Alejandro Giraldo is accused of battery and official misconduct for tackling a woman who had been the victim of an assault.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Quote:Former Texas cop convicted of rape gets 10 years’ probation
A former Texas cop convicted of raping a woman he encountered during a domestic violence call has dodged jail time in the case — and will instead serve 10 years of probation.
William Ollie Alexander, a former officer in El Paso, was convicted of sexual assault Thursday by a jury of eight men and four women. The disgraced law enforcement officer got a 10-year suspended prison sentence Friday, meaning he’ll spend a decade on probation, the El Paso Times reports.
In non-capital cases, a defendant in Texas has the right before trial to elect to have a jury rather than a judge decide their sentence. Alexander opted for a jury, according to Claudia Duran, a spokeswoman for the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office.
Alexander, who was convicted of sexually assaulting the victim in March 2018, will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
“I used to be trusting,” the victim said of the attack that occurred in West El Paso hours after Alexander gave the woman his phone number and picked her up. “I thought everyone was nice and would be helpful, but now I know it is not like that.”
The woman is now afraid to start her own family and have children, she testified.
“This is something I will never forget,” she said in court. “It was the worst day of my life.”
The sentence was handed down after Alexander’s father pleaded for a no-jail punishment due to fears for his son’s safety behind bars, the newspaper reports.
“I understand he made a moral mistake,” William Ollie Alexander III said. “My son is a law enforcement officer. I think you, I and all the men and women of the jury know what happens to law enforcement officers in prison.”
Attorneys for Alexander also alluded to those safety concerns, saying that any prison term could “result in a death sentence” for the crooked cop.
“It doesn’t matter how many years,” attorney Omar Carmona said. “He will go to the penitentiary as [a] former police officer. He is going to be there with gang members. Yes, it’s because of his actions, but remember any prison sentence is a death sentence.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had sought at least 15 years in prison for Alexander, the newspaper reports.
The former cop and married father of two became emotional during Friday’s sentencing. Alexander — who faced up to 20 years — must also pay a $10,000 fine, KFOX-TV reports.
“[Jurors] recommended that sentence be suspended to 10 years of probation,” Carmona told the station. “They understand not all sexual assaults, even if there is a guilty verdict, warrant a prison sentence and this was one in which a jury felt that this is a case where Mr. Alexander should not go to prison and should serve in the community.”
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
People targeting and assassinating police is wrong. As wrong as targeting and assassinating anyone. Agree or not with their methods and what they can get away with it is wrong to kill.
However I'm not sure this is the proper response from the union.
rhetoric causes violence. [six hours later] so that’s why we, the guys with guns, are declaring war on you pic.twitter.com/6ofcOOxkjG
Quote:Traveling teen mistakenly taken down by local police. ACLU has filed a lawsuit
Stepping off a bus at an East Moline rest stop, the out-of-town college student had no idea what was about to hit him.
Jaylan Butler and his teammates from the Eastern Illinois University swim team were at the end of a long day. After competing in a conference championship swim meet in South Dakota, they spent the bulk of Feb. 24, 2019, traveling back to Charleston, Ill., in a rented coach with their school logo plastered on the sides.
The parents of one of Butler's teammates lives in the Quad-Cities, and arrangements were made to meet up with them at the rest area just over the Illinois border past the Interstate 80 bridge.
"The bus was hot," Butler recalled. "We got out to stretch our legs."
Though it was hot inside the bus, the temperature outside was in the teens as the hour approached 8 p.m. Butler, wearing his EIU team jacket, was heading back onto the bus when his coach suggested he take a selfie in front of Illinois' "BUCKLE UP, IT'S THE LAW" sign. The team had been taking pictures throughout the trip and posting them to social media to update parents and others on their location.
"As I took the picture, there was a line of police officers ... they came to a screeching stop in front of me," Butler said. "At that moment, I only knew a couple things to do that my dad always told me."
As a young black man, he had been taught by his dad to never give police a reason to think he would cause trouble. He remembered the lessons, and he dropped his phone, raised his hands, and got on the ground.
He could not imagine what the police wanted with him. But they weren't messing around.
His life was threatened Bus driver Todd Slingerland knew immediately that something was going wrong.
"I was sitting in the driver's seat, waiting for the parents to get there, and Jaylan was the last one to get back on the bus," Slingerland said. "A car screamed in, and I jumped out of the bus, knowing something was going down that shouldn't be going down.
"As I got out, a second police car came screaming in."
Two officers had Jaylan on the ground — his face pressed into the snow and an officer's knee pressed into his back. One cop was pointing a shotgun, Butler and Slingerland said, and another had a gun pointed at the 19-year-old's head.
"He said, 'If you move, I'll blow your (expletive) head off,'" Butler said.
Slingerland heard the same threat and shouted at the police that Jaylan was his passenger, and they were making a mistake. As he rushed back to the door of the bus and yelled for the coach, two more police vehicles arrived.
"The one officer was telling Jaylan they were going to arrest him for resisting, but how could they arrest him for something he hadn't done?" Slingerland asked. "Their excuse (for taking Butler into custody) was that they thought the bus was being held hostage.
"I had all the lights on, so the bus was lit up. The bus had EIU on the side, and Jaylan was wearing an EIU jacket. I told them to get the sheriff over there because this was a very big mistake.
"They said the sheriff was busy with an active-shooter event."
Meanwhile, Butler's mind was reeling. What in the world was going on?
'Assaulting an innocent victim' At least two Rock Island County Sheriff's deputies had rushed into the rest area, along with at least one officer from the East Moline and Hampton police departments. The identity of two other officers is unclear.
The reason for their interest in Butler likely will be made known in U.S. District Court in Rock Island, where the ACLU out of Chicago has filed a lawsuit against the six officers, including two who are named as John Does. The suit alleges Butler was the victim of unlawful search and seizure, false arrest, excessive detention, excessive force, failure of bystander officers to intervene in unconstitutional conduct, and assault.
Butler and the bus driver, Slingerland, said they immediately knew the police were making a big mistake. When the police realized it, too, they said, they took off.
"I'm an old Navy man," said Slingerland, who has been an over-the-road driver for nearly 30 years. "I've seen a lot, but I've never seen anybody screw something up as bad as they did this, especially the first two (officers). None of this makes any sense.
"I have all the respect in the world for police officers, but I wanted to body slam that guy who said what he said about shooting Jaylan."
Slingerland said he is certain it was a Rock Island County sheriff's deputy who put the gun to the 19-year-old's head and threatened to shoot him.
"As far as I was concerned, they were assaulting an innocent victim with deadly force," Slingerland said.
Butler said he knew what was happening was wrong. In fact, at one point, he asked for the badge number of the officer who threatened to kill him. He was ignored, he said.
"Mr. Butler informed at least two defendants (officers) that he wanted to make a complaint," the ACLU lawsuit alleges. "The first defendant ignored him. The second defendant said, 'There's nothing I can do.'
"Neither defendant gave Mr. Butler any of the defendants' names, badge numbers, law enforcement agency affiliations, or any other information to enable him to file a complaint."
The officers knew, according to the lawsuit, that they had made a mistake. Then they made matters worse.
"Defendants quickly realized that Mr. Butler was not the suspect for whom they were searching ... informed the local dispatcher that it was a false alarm," the suit states. "After several minutes of forcing Mr. Butler to lie facedown on the ground while handcuffed, defendants allowed Mr. Butler to sit up.
"They did not, however, remove his handcuffs or inform him that he was free to go, even though they had already recognized that Mr. Butler was not the suspect for whom they were searching."
Instead, according to the lawsuit, the officers told Butler he was being arrested for resisting arrest. They took him to a squad car, patted him down, searched his coat pockets, and placed him in the back of a squad car for several minutes. They then removed him from the car, took off the cuffs, and told him to get his ID off the bus.
After producing his ID, Butler was released from police custody, and the officers were gone.
Who were they looking for? Rock Island County State's Attorney Dora Villarreal, whose office will defend the two county deputies named in the suit, said it is her understanding the two John Doe defendants were not with the sheriff's department.
Asked what the officers were looking for that night, Villarreal said, "They were called in to assist on a Henry County incident."
Henry County Sheriff Kerry Loncka looked up records from Feb. 24 and said no reports were filed by Henry County deputies. Call logs gave hints about what police may have been after.
At 7:02 p.m., Loncka said, Illinois State Police asked for Henry County's assistance in pursuing a man in a vehicle who shot at a truck on Interstate 80 in Annawan.
The records he found showed the suspect vehicle went into Rock Island County and wrecked. He doesn't know where, he said, because he has no record of what happened after the vehicle left Henry County.
Rock Island County Sheriff Gerry Bustos said he knew little about the incident but said he was not, as the officers who arrested Butler are said to have claimed, responding to an active-shooter event that night.
Asked to look at the county records to determine what police were responding to on the night of Feb. 24, Bustos replied, "Looks like the closest we can find was a call of a 10-year-old child in Port Byron possibly waving a gun around down by the railroad tracks.
"It was a toy gun. Deputy did follow up with parent."
Sheriff Loncka in Henry County said his deputies asked for Rock Island County's help only after his department was asked by Illinois State Police to assist. But the state police declined to supply any information whatsoever.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records that would explain what police were responding to when they mistakenly took Butler into custody, a FOIA officer responded that no information could be supplied without the name and date of birth of the person arrested.
Despite objections that the FOIA request sought only incident reports related to the events of Feb. 24, the FOIA officer did not respond. A public information officer for the Illinois State Police said last week that she would try to help provide information "ASAP." Five days later, no information was provided.
The fallout for Butler Before the EIU swim team stopped for dinner in East Moline on Feb. 24, the mood on the bus was upbeat.
"The energy before we stopped was really lively, excited, having a good time," Butler said. "Afterwards ... you could just see the energy change.
"Some people were crying."
Some teammates tried holding Butler's hand, he said. He pulled it away.
"I was their first African American teammate — the first swimmer they'd seen of color," he said. "They were all pretty quiet. After about 10 minutes, I couldn't take the silence anymore."
He made an announcement to his teammates as a way of checking in and reassuring them.
"I said, 'I'm OK. You're OK,'" he said. "I'm kind of glad that I did that."
But Butler said he was putting up a front to hide his anguish. It couldn't last.
"When we switched out drivers at another rest stop, getting off the bus, everyone was next to me, staying as close as possible," he said. "The assistant coach hugged me and said he loved me. That kind of brought on the tears. "It got harder to keep that front going. I tried my hardest not to cry around them."
His coach encouraged him to call his parents and tell them what happened.
Reliving the events Butler's parents were angry and upset to hear what police had done to their son, he said.
"I was blessed to have parents who gave me the proper tools (for reacting to law enforcement), which they hoped I'd never have to use," the now-20-year-old said. "It could have gone a different way.
"A kid like me, who has stayed on the straight and narrow, could've been killed. I didn't resist at all. I complied before they told me to do anything."
The ACLU's lawsuit addresses the emotional impact that resulted from Butler's mistaken run-in with police.
"Mr. Butler was traumatized by this incident," the suit states. "Since the event, he has felt angry, scared and depressed. He has had trouble concentrating at school and participating in activities.
"In class the next day, Mr. Butler found himself staring down at the bruises around his wrists, playing the previous night's events in his head until finally he realized his class had ended, and he was the only person still sitting there."
Nearly a year since the incident has passed, Butler's emotions have varied over time.
"In the beginning, and I didn't even know it, it was fear," he said. "As the months went on, it was, Why? Did I do something wrong?
"Then, it became disappointment.
"I know not all officers are like that, but it was pretty disappointing — what it's like to be of color in America."
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
To the people outraged by this, I have to ask: why aren’t six-year-olds expected to address the problem of tantrums in their community? Why can’t we have an honest dialogue about six-year-old culture?https://t.co/Fa5pscokfm
Body camera video shows 6-year-old Orlando girl arrested at school
“Help me, help me, please!” Kaia Rolle choked out through tears.
Recently released body cam footage shows the arrest of Kai Rolle at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy. [Photo from video/Facebook]
ORLANDO — Kaia Rolle was sitting, listening to a school employee read her a story when two officers came in the room to arrest her.
“What are those for?” the 6-year-old girl asked the Orlando police officers.
“They’re for you,” Officer Dennis Turner said about the zip ties, before another officer tightened them around her wrists. Kaia immediately began weeping.
“No … no, don’t put handcuffs on!” she wailed in body camera footage from the arrest, which Kaia’s family shared with the Orlando Sentinel on Monday evening. The arrests of the girl and another 6-year-old at Lucious & Emma Nixon Academy in September drew national headlines and widespread condemnation, leading to the officer’s firing.
“Help me, help me, please!” the girl choked out through tears. The officers continued with the arrest. Employees at the Orlando charter school stood by.
After Kaia was placed in a police SUV to be taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center, Turner returned to the school’s office and spoke to administrators, who were concerned about Kaia. He downplayed the juvenile detention center, saying it’s “not like you think.”
He told them he had arrested 6,000 people in his career — the youngest, to that point, was 7. When school employees told him Kaia was 6, not 8 like he thought, he did not seem concerned.
Kaia, a first grader at the charter school, had a tantrum earlier in the day where she had kicked and punched three school employees, leading to her arrest on a charge of misdemeanor battery, according to her arrest report. However, by the time Turner and another officer approached Kaia to detain, cuff and arrest her, the girl had calmed down, the video shows.
The school staff member who had been reading to her told Kaia she had to go with the officers, and that her grandmother would pick her up later.
While walking with the officer to the car, Kaia continued to cry, “I don’t wanna go in a police car.”
The second officer, who has not been identified, replied, “You don’t want to? … You have to.”
“Please, give me a second chance,” the girl responded, still crying.
The officers put her in the backseat of the police SUV.
Turner then returned to the school’s office, reminding one employee that he would need a statement from her, and said she would likely get a subpoena. The woman agreed, though she said she was upset.
The arrest report Turner completed said that a member of the school’s faculty, Beverly Stoute, had requested to press charges against Kaia, something the school has denied. The video does not show any staff member attempting to stop the arrest, though several are obviously rattled.
“The restraints, are they necessary?” one school employee asked.
“Yes,” Turner said.
Then, he added: “If she was bigger, she would have been wearing regular handcuffs.”
He then told the school administrators that the youngest person he ever arrested previously was 7 years old, a boy who he had caught stealing at a supermarket. He said he arrested the boy because he “thought it was a joke” while the other children caught in the act had started crying.
Officials have said that Turner also arrested a 6-year-old boy at Nixon Academy the same day as Kaia for misdemeanor battery in an unrelated incident. However, the boy’s arrest was halted by superiors before the child made it through the full arrest process.
Details about the boy’s arrest have not been made public.
The following day, prosecutors dropped the charge against Kaia.
Orlando Police Department officials have said Turner violated agency policy on arresting children younger than 12, which requires officers to get a supervisor’s approval — something Turner did not do. However, his decision was not illegal as Florida currently does not have a minimum age for arrest.
Meralyn Kirkland, Kaia’s grandmother, said she is hoping that when people watch the footage of her granddaughter’s arrest, they will support a proposal to change that law by making 12 the minimum age for arrest. She said she would also like to see school resource officers receive more training and preparation, especially to work with young children.
“I knew that what they did was wrong, but I never knew she was begging for help,” Kirkland said in an interview Monday night about the video. “I watched her break.”
The body camera footage still upsets her, Kirkland said, especially when Turner “callously” talks about arresting children.
“You’re discussing traumatizing a 6- and 7-year-old — and that’s a boasting right for you?” she said. “These are babies.”
Kirkland said her granddaughter had sleep apnea, which could cause her to act out in school — a condition Kirkland had repeatedly worked with the school to manage, she said.
Kaia was completely processed at the county Juvenile Assessment Center, where the girl’s mugshot and fingerprints were taken, Kirkland said, adding that employees at the center had to use a step stool so Kaia could reach the camera for the mugshot.
Kaia has since enrolled in a private school, after refusing to attend a school with an officer on campus, Kirkland said. She said she worries about how the trauma from the arrest will affect her granddaughter in years to come.
Turner, who was fired days after the arrest became national news, had worked in OPD’s Reserve Unit, which is made up of retired officers who are required to work a certain amount of hours at the agency per month and can pick up extra-duty jobs for pay.
Over the course of Turner’s 23-year tenure at OPD prior to retiring last year, he was disciplined seven times for violations of department policy that ranged from unsafe driving to a child-abuse arrest in which he was accused of injuring his 7-year-old son, record released Tuesday showed. He was also accused of sending threatening text messages to his ex-wife in 2009 and racial profiling, records show.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
I used to do video editing with two VHS players hooked to a third and a "tool" that could move the tapes and start them.
I can make an entire movie on my phone now.
I think the DOJ might just be being dodgy.
I'm also 110% sure that as soon as this affect the POTUS or some other high ranking/rich person it will matter more to the DOJ.
Brutal #FOIA opinion from the D.C. Cir. this morning.
DOJ says it can't redact video and therefore must keep all of it secret. Court: Teenagers edit videos all the time, and "presumably, most of these teenagers have fewer resources than the United States government." pic.twitter.com/EWC6nM3GuZ
Quote:Georgia to consider charges in killing of unarmed black jogger as video emerges Prosecutors were reluctant to charge former police officer and son in shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery
[/url] [url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/05/georgia-brunswick-shooting-ahmaud-arbery-grand-jury#img-1] Ahmaud Arbery.
A prosecutor in Georgia said on Tuesday he would ask a grand jury to decide if charges should be filed against a white former law enforcement officer and his son in the fatal shooting of an unarmed young black man as he ran through a small town.
The shooting of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery outside Brunswick, Georgia, in February was captured on videotape and posted on social media on Tuesday, stirring outrage over the reluctance of prosecutors to file charges against Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis.
The video footage, which was taken by an unidentified witness in another car, shows Arbery jogging down a narrow two-lane road and around a white pickup truck stopped in the right lane, its driver’s door open.
As Arbery crosses back in front of the truck a gunshot is fired. Arbery is then seen struggling with a man holding a long gun as a second man stands in the bed of the truck brandishing a revolver. Two more shots are heard before Arbery stumbles and falls face-down onto the asphalt.
The graphic footage has prompted an outcry and demands for justice; the activist Shaun King posted the video on Twitter, describing it as “one of the worst things I’ve seen in my entire life”.
Tom Durden, the acting district attorney for a neighboring district, said in a letter posted on Facebook that he believed “the case should be presented to the grand jury of Glynn county for consideration of criminal charges against those involved in the death of Mr Arbery”.
Durden, who was assigned to investigate the fatal shooting after prosecutors in Brunswick and a neighboring district recused themselves due to potential conflicts of interest, said he would present the case to the next available grand jury in Glynn county. That grand jury might not meet until mid-June or later because courts were under restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
According to a police report obtained by the New York Times, Gregory McMichael, a former police officer and district attorney’s investigator, told investigators the incident began when he spotted Arbery from his front yard “hauling ass” down the street.
McMichael told police that, because he suspected Arbery in a string of recent neighborhood break-ins, he summoned his son and the two men gave chase in the truck, Gregory McMichael carrying a .357 Magnum revolver and Travis armed with a shotgun.
Gregory McMichael said Arbery began to “violently attack” his son and fought over the shotgun, prompting Travis to open fire. It is not clear from the police report or the videotape if Gregory McMichael also fired on Arbery.
According to a letter obtained by the Times, the prosecutor in Brunswick argued there was not probable cause to arrest the McMichaels because they were legally carrying firearms, had a right to pursue a burglary suspect and use deadly force to protect themselves.
In a statement to the New York Times, a lawyer for Arbery’s family said the video clearly showed a criminal act. “This is murder,” said S Lee Merritt. “The series of events captured in this video confirm what all the evidence indicated prior to its release.”
Andrea Young, the executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, compared the killing to that of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch leader.
“The vigilante behavior that we saw in Brunswick is unacceptable in a civilized society. We call on the officials in Brunswick to enforce the rule of law so that it can be safe for citizens to walk the streets,” said Young. “Ahmaud was killed three days before the anniversary of the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin. Both incidents are a reminder that white supremacy has been a foundation for our country and leads repeatedly to the targeting and harming people of color, particularly African Americans.”
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
I find it interesting that one of the reasons the local DA said they weren't pressing charges was because the former cop and his son had a right to defend themselves. Did this guy not have a right to defend himself against having a firearm pointed at him? I mean, that's the initiation of force right there.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
(05-06-2020, 10:27 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I find it interesting that one of the reasons the local DA said they weren't pressing charges was because the former cop and his son had a right to defend themselves. Did this guy not have a right to defend himself against having a firearm pointed at him? I mean, that's the initiation of force right there.
Matt the victim was black.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Quote:Cellphone video shows a Georgia jogger allegedly ambushed by 2 gunmen
7:00
New video emerges in fatal Georgia shooting of unarmed black manLee Merritt, the attorney for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, speaks out after prosecutors decide to send the case to a grand jury.
Ahmaud Arbery's 26th birthday would have been May 8. Instead, his family will be mourning his death and seeking justice after a father and son allegedly shot and killed him almost three months ago.
After two Georgia prosecutors recused themselves from investigating Ahmaud Arbery's Feb. 23 death because of a conflict of interest, a third district attorney, assigned by the state's attorney general, announced on Tuesday that a grand jury should decide to file charges.
The legal proceeding cannot go forward until June 12 because the courts are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Glynn County Police Department told ABC News on Tuesday that no arrests have been made.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was allegedly killed by a father and son while jogging on Feb. 23, 2020. The FBI and DOJ are investigating the case and a grand jury is expected to decide if charges should be filed.Courtesy The Arbery family
Video footage of the shooting allegedly taken by a bystander was leaked on social media and quickly went viral. Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden said on Twitter that "Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood" and California senator Kamala Harris said the video "sickened her to the core."
“The series of events captured in this video confirm what all the evidence indicated prior to its release— Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him without justification. This is murder.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations was requested by Durden on Tuesday to investigate who released the video as well as threats made against the police department. On Wednesday, bureau Director Vic Reynolds announced he was assigning three different agents from three different regions to investigate Admaud Arbery's death.
In the 28-second video, Ahmaud Arbery can be seen jogging in the street around 1 p.m. on Feb. 23. The video ends with two loud shotguns.
Ahmaud Arbery's parents, Wanda Jones Cooper and Marcus Arbery Sr., along with their attorneys, Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt, said at a video press conference Wednesday that Gregory and Travis McMichael, who have been accused of shooting Arbery, and Bryan Williams, who allegedly recorded the video, should all be arrested.
"If my son killed the McMichael's son, he would have been arrested on the spot," Marcus Arbery said.
Marcus Arbery said his son, who aspired to be a boxer, was athletic and known for taking daily jogs. Ahmaud Arbery lived in Brunswick, one town over from Satilla Hills, where the McMichaels live.
"He took his body very seriously, always ran and had pride in everything he did," said Marcus Arbery. "It cuts me deeply how his life was taken. I would have preferred them to come and take my life instead."
Cooper said when police told her that her youngest son was shot and killed inside a home during a burglary she had no reason to question it "because it was authority talking."
It wasn't until after Cooper did her own research and read local media reports that she says she started to question what police said.
The district attorneys in Brunswick and Waycross Counties have recused themselves from the case, citing conflicts of interest because of professional ties to Gregory McMichael, who had a lengthy career as an investigator in the Brunswick district attorney’s office before recently retiring. He also worked for several years as an officer in the Glynn County Police Department.
Before the Waycross district attorney, George Barnhill, removed himself from the investigation, he wrote a three-page report that said there was not insufficient probable cause to issue arrest warrants for the McMichaels and Williams, according to the documents obtained by The New York Times.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, with his mother Wanda Jones Cooper. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23, 2020, allegedly by a father and son who accused him of being a serial trespasser. No arrest have been made.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, with his mother Wanda Jones Cooper. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23, 2020, allegedly by a father and son who accused him of being a serial trespasser. No arrest have been made.Courtesy The Arbery family
Merritt, one of the family's lawyers, said "it would not be possible for the McMichaels to be justly prosecuted if the prosecutors have ties in Southern Georgia." He now wants the Department of Justice and FBI to get involved in the case.
"FBI has said it’s assisting and as is standard protocol we look forward to working with them should information come to light of a potential federal violation," according to a spokesperson with the Department of Justice.
"This was a hate crime," said Marcus Arbery. "How is it a crime to work out?" Ahmaud Arbery is African American and the McMichaels are white.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia declined ABC News' request for comment.
When police arrived on Satilla Drive on Feb. 23, Gregory McMichael said there were "several break-ins" in the neighborhood and he allegedly caught the suspect "hauling a--" down the street, according to the police report.
Gregory McMichael, 64, said he went inside the house to get his son and they both grabbed their guns -- a .357 magnum and shotgun -- because they didn't know if the suspect was armed, according to the report.
The father also told police that he saw the same suspect stick his hand down his pants "the other day" which lead him to believe "the male was armed," according to the report.
According to Georgia law, civilians are allowed to pursue a suspect if a crime has been committed and make an arrest until law enforcement arrive.
The McMichaels allegedly jumped into their pickup truck and attempted to cut the suspect off as he fled, according to the police report. Gregory McMichael said the suspect changed course and ran in the opposite direction, according to the police report.
893 people are talking about this
[url=https://twitter.com/MeritLaw/status/1257788338561519619]
Travis McMichael got into the driver seat with his shotgun as his father hopped into the back of the pickup truck with his handgun and tried to stop the suspect again, according to the report.
In the viral video, Ahmaud Arbery can be seen running around the vehicle on the passenger side. According to the police report, Travis McMichael said he shouted "Stop, stop, we want to talk to you" as he pulled up close to the suspect.
Travis McMichael claimed in the police report that he got out of the truck with the shotgun and was attacked by the suspect. He and the suspect then tussled with the shotgun before two shots go off, according to the video.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was allegedly shot and killed by a father and son while jogging in Georgia.
Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was allegedly shot and killed by a father and son while jogging in Georgia.Courtesy Civil Rights Attorney S. Lee Merritt
ABC News' request for comment from the McMichaels' attorney Allen David Tucker was not immediately returned. Phone calls to the McMichaels were not returned.
"The video contradicts everything the family have been told about what happened," said Merritt. "They were told the McMichaels were attempting to make a citizens arrest. That's absurd. They were vigilantes. They were a posse and performing a modern-day lynching."
Ahmaud Arbery was pronounced dead on the scene by the Glynn County coroner. No weapons were found on Ahmaud Arbery, according to the police report.
Merritt said the video was either released internally by the police community or by the McMichaels themselves, who have allegedly bragged about the shooting online.
Officers with the Glynn County Police Department have been called to the Satilla Shores neighborhood three times since October 2019 over reports of a trespasser on the construction site of a new home being built near the McMichaels' house, according to police reports obtained by ABC News. Police were also called on Jan. 1 by Travis McMichael because his firearm was allegedly stolen out of his truck.
The owner of the construction site told police on Feb. 11 that the same "unknown black male" had trespassed on his property repeatedly. That alleged suspect was described as a "lighter skinned black male" with a slender build who was between 5'10 and 6' and whose arms may have been covered in tattoos. Ahmaud Arbery was 6' with a darker skin complexion.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
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