Category Archives: US policing

Daunte Wright and George Floyd: another chapter in America’s recurring tragedy

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The latest instance of a Black man killed by a police officer added fuel to the fire already burning in Minneapolis

It was shortly after midday on Thursday at the New Salem Missionary Baptist church in Minneapolis. In front of a towering stone facade, Katie Wright stood at the pulpit, almost dwarfed by the plexiglass lectern and mass of microphones in front of her. She shuddered with grief, held by members of her family.

Five days earlier, her son, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old father of one, had been shot and killed by a single bullet fired by a white police officer in the city suburb of Brooklyn Center. Four nights of unrest had followed with hundreds of protesters clashing with police dressed in riot gear, pelting crowds with teargas and rubber bullets.

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Protests erupt in US cities over police violence as riot declared in Portland

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Thousands marched in Chicago where 13-year-old Adam Toledo was killed while about 100 arrested in Brooklyn Center

After a heated week of police violence, protests erupted in several US cities on Friday, at times turning tense.

In the wake of the killings of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old shot by police after being pulled over, and unarmed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, thousands took to the streets to demonstrate, sometimes into the night.

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Derek Chauvin trial: officer’s brief defense could reflect confidence … or lack of credibility

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After a dramatic final week, all that is left is closing statements and jury decisions

The prosecution took 10 days to lay out its case against Derek Chauvin. The former Minneapolis police officer’s defense to the charges of murdering George Floyd barely lasted two.

The relative brevity of Chauvin’s case might reflect a confidence on the part of the defense that the evidence against him is easily picked apart or at least shaky enough to raise reasonable doubt with the jury.

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Hundreds protest in Chicago over police shooting of Adam Toledo

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About 1,000 gather in park a day after police released video of officers shooting 13-year-old

Hundreds marched through the streets of Chicago on Friday to protest the police shooting of Adam Toledo, a day after police released of body-cam video showing the deadly shooting of the 13-year-old boy with his hands in the air.

About a thousand people gathered on Friday evening in a park on Chicago’s north-west side, some holding signs that read “Stop killing kids” and “CPD can’t be reformed”. A brass band played music as the crowd chanted: “No justice, no peace.”

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Adam Toledo shooting renews calls for Chicago police accountability yet again

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Hundreds have attended protests, demanding transparency and justice in a city with a long history of racist policing

Chicago has repeatedly grappled with cases of police misconduct and police-involved shootings, and the fatal shooting of 13 year-old Adam Toledo by Chicago police has renewed demands for justice and accountability yet again.

Eric Stillman, a Chicago police officer, shot and killed Adam following a foot pursuit by officers on 29 March. When the shooting happened, Adam was with Ruben Roman, 21, who has since been charged with several felonies in connection to that night including reckless discharge of a firearm and child endangerment.

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Chicago mayor urges calm as police release footage of Adam Toledo’s killing – video

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At a press conference before the release of footage – which appears to show a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month as he raises his hands to the air – the city's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, describes  the video as 'incredibly difficult to watch, particularly at the end'. She says it is understandable why residents feel an 'all-too-familiar surge of outrage and pain' but urges each resident to wait till they hear all the facts 

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Simon & Schuster refuses to distribute book by officer who shot Breonna Taylor

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US publishing giant was due to distribute Jonathan Mattingly’s The Fight for Truth for rightwing outlet Post Hill Press

Simon & Schuster has said that it will not be distributing a book by one of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor, after a small publisher whose books are distributed through S&S announced the book to widespread criticism.

The Fight for Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy is by Sgt Jonathan Mattingly, a Louisville, Kentucky, officer who shot Taylor and was wounded in the raid on her home in March last year. The book is being published by Post Hill Press, a small independent that specialises in “conservative politics” and Christian titles, and home to authors including far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and the embattled Republican congressman Matt Gaetz.

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Adam Toledo did not have a gun in his hand, says family lawyer – video

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Adam Toledo, a 13-year old boy shot and killed by a Chicago police officer, was not carrying a gun, his family's lawyer has said, contrary to claims made by the police department. Officials released to the public graphic body-camera footage showing an officer shooting Adam, who appeared to have his hands raised. 'Those videos speak for themselves,' said Adeena J Weiss-Ortiz, the family's lawyer. 'Adam, during his last second of life, did not have a gun in his hand'

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Video appears to show Chicago police shooting Adam Toledo, 13, as he raised his hands

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Chicago mayor urges calm in the city as body-cam footage of fatal shooting of Toledo is released for first time

Body camera video footage released for the first time on Thursday appears to show a Chicago police officer fatally shooting Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old, as he raised his hands into the air.

The footage has ignited fresh outrage in the city where Toledo was shot last month. On Thursday, Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, stood alongside Latino community leaders and called for calm.

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George Floyd killing: defense rests case after Derek Chauvin declines to testify

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Both sides will make closing arguments on Monday and the case over the death of George Floyd will then go to the jury

Derek Chauvin declined to testify in his murder trial over the killing of George Floyd as the defence wrapped up its case after just two days of testimony.

Chauvin invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination as he sacrificed the chance to explain to the jury why he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and for his lawyers to paint a more sympathetic picture of the police officer. But he also avoided a minute interrogation of his actions and thinking by the prosecution’s cross-examination.

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Officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright charged with manslaughter

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Former police officer Kimberly Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday after fatally shooting the 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright, officials said.

The white former suburban Minneapolis police officer was arrested earlier in the day in relation to the shooting dead of Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis.

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Derek Chauvin trial: defense claims bad heart and drug use killed George Floyd

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Dr David Fowler, testifying for the defense, also said vehicle exhaust may have played a part in Floyd’s death

A leading forensic pathologist has told the Derek Chauvin trial that George Floyd was killed by his heart condition and drug use.

Dr David Fowler, testifying for the defence, also introduced the idea that vehicle exhaust may have played a part in Floyd’s death by raising the amount of carbon monoxide in his blood and affecting his heart.

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Minnesota officer who killed Daunte Wright resigns along with police chief

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Police chief had said that officer Kim Potter meant to fire her Taser but fired her service weapon by mistake, killing the 20-year-old

Kim Potter, the white Minnesota police officer who fatally shot the Black resident Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, and her chief of police, Tim Gannon, resigned on Tuesday.

Their resignations come after two nights of protests in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center over Sunday’s killing of Wright, who was unarmed when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Sunday.

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Daunte Wright’s brother speaks out at vigil as police use teargas against protesters – video report

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Dallas Bryant, the brother of the 20-year-old Black man who was shot dead by police in the suburbs of Minneapolis on Sunday, says he could never understand Wright's fear of being pulled over by police because he is white. 

He also questioned the validity of the explanation by police that the officer who shot Daunte accidentally shot him because she confused her Taser electrical weapon for her gun.

Police clashed with protesters for a second night. Law enforcement agencies used teargas and other methods to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered outside police headquarters

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Police chief says Minnesota officer mistakenly fired gun instead of Taser – video

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The fatal police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man in a Minneapolis suburb appeared to be an ‘accidental discharge’ by an officer who drew her gun instead of her Taser during a struggle, the city’s police chief said. ‘This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers’ reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr Wright,’ the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, told reporters. Police in the Minneapolis suburb attempted to arrest Daunte Wright following a traffic stop due to an expired vehicle registration. Video footage presented at a news briefing showed a struggle between Wright and officers. Wright then got back into the car and an officer could be heard yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’

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Black army officer pepper-sprayed by police during traffic stop in December 2020 – video

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One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a Black US army officer during a traffic stop has been fired, a Virginia town announced late on Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation.

In the December 2020 encounter, two officers are accused of drawing their guns, pointing them at army second lieutenant Caron Nazario and using a slang term to suggest he was facing execution.

Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was also pepper-sprayed and knocked to the ground by the officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, according to the lawsuit he filed earlier this month against them. The two sides in the case dispute what happened but Crocker wrote in a report that he believed Nazario was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop”. Attorney Jonathan Arthur said Nazario was trying to stop in a well-lit area

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Police say officer who shot and killed unarmed Daunte Wright intended to fire Taser

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Brooklyn Center police chief describes fatal shooting of Black man, 20, as result of ‘accidental discharge’ from handgun

Police in a Minneapolis suburb said an officer accidentally shot and killed a 20-year-old Black man on Sunday afternoon during a traffic stop, releasing graphic body-camera footage they say shows the officer intended to use a Taser not a handgun during the death of unarmed Daunte Wright.

Related: ‘They didn’t have to kill him’: anger and outrage as locals mourn Daunte Wright

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‘Subdual, restraint and compression’ led to Floyd’s death, says forensic pathologist – video

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George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from the way he was held down by police, a retired forensic pathologist testified on Friday at former officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial. The testimony of Lindsey Thomas, who retired in 2017 from the Hennepin county medical examiner's office in Minneapolis, bolstered testimony by other experts on Thursday that rejected the defence theory that Floyd's drug use and underlying health problems killed him

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Derek Chauvin trial: expert witness says George Floyd’s health deteriorated as officer continued using force – live

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Prosecutors are asking Anderson about the initial 27 May processing of the Mercedes SUV, and the second search in December 2020.

Anderson, presented with photos of the Mercedes interior during the first processing, said was asked whether there was a pill there.

Prosecutors have now called McKenzie Anderson to testify, a forensic scientist with Minnesota’s criminal apprehension bureau.

Anderson has been a “crime scene team” leader with the bureau of criminal apprehension since 2016. Anderson headed the crime scene investigation in Floyd’s death. Anderson, a technician, and a photographer from her team, arrived at the scene around 1:15 am on 26 May, 2020.

SA Reyerson testimony is now complete. Onto the 2nd BCA witness in the case, McKenzie Anderson. She was the crime scene lead on death of #GeorgeFloyd investigation. Continued #DerekChauvinTrial coverage live right now on @FOX9. pic.twitter.com/s3NxFP8B23

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Chauvin’s use of force on George Floyd was ‘in no way’ policy, says police chief

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Medaria Arradondo says on sixth day of trial that ex-officer’s treatment of George Floyd breached regulations

The Minneapolis police chief, Medaria Arradondo, told the Derek Chauvin murder trial on Monday that he “vehemently disagrees” that there was any justification for the former police officer to keep his knee on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.

Arradondo said on the sixth day of the trial that Chauvin’s treatment of the 46-year-old Black man breached regulations and showed a disregard “for the sanctity of life”.

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