The Day Ferguson Cops Were Caught in a Bloody Lie

Cops "feared for their lives" as suspect phoned sister out of fear of police-brutality

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/watch-arizona-cops-assault-unarmed-man-pulling-out-his-phone-during-profiling-stop

He matched the description of a suspect: He wore a hoodie and he was riding on a bike. So the cops pulled him over.

While he was being questioned and detained, he pulled out his phone and called his sister, fearing police-brutality.

This phone-call made the cops "fear for their lives".

“You have additional people coming to the scene, and you are in fear,” Detective Steve Berry, with the Mesa Police Department said in regards to this innocent man using the phone. “Who might be armed, and showing up to assist.”

Since these officers ‘feared’ a phone call, they proceeded to assault Velazquez. The incident was captured on the officer’s body cam.

At the beginning of the video, one officer can be seen attempting to pull the phone from Valazquez’s hand, but Velazquez tries to explain to his sister where he is just before being tackled to the ground.

After officers had slammed him on the ground, they began punching him the face for failing to prostrate himself before the badge fast enough. After realizing that they had just beaten an innocent man for no reason, police frantically searched for something to charge him with. They then issued Velazquez a ticket for not having the proper lighting on his bicycle.




“Taking five minutes and complying and calling your sister when you got done, would have gone a long way,” Berry said. “He could have moved on for the evening.”

Well, Detective Berry, your claim is based on the flimsy assumptions that citizens trust cops and can trust cops.

Rancher’s wife: ‘I saw them murder my husband’

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article43673037.html

Family members say they don’t know why deputies grabbed Jack Yantis and shot him

They say his wife was thrown to ground and handcuffed

Reports of a shootout are disputed


Jack Yantis

By Cynthia Sewell

[email protected]

BOISE, Idaho

The family of an Adams County rancher involved in an encounter with two sheriff’s deputies says the deputies killed him in a “completely unjustified” shooting.


Donna Yantis spent her 63rd birthday Thursday at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where she has been recovering from a heart attack she suffered after her husband was killed.

Family members have shared with the Statesman their account of what happened last Sunday night. The account is in written statements prepared with attorneys the family hired after the incident, a video statement Donna Yantis made from her Boise hospital bed, and a draft transcript the lawyers prepared of one family member’s account of what happened.

The Statesman also interviewed several family members, including Rowdy Paradis, a nephew of the couple’s who said he witnessed the shootings.

“Law enforcement should be trained to de-escalate situations,” said Rowdy Paradis. “In this case, I stood 10 feet away and watched two deputies escalate the situation and needlessly kill a man.”

Sheriff Ryan Zollman did not respond Saturday to an emailed request for comment on the family’s account or to a message left with a sheriff’s dispatcher.

Here is what the family says happened on Nov. 1:
A PHONE CALL AT DINNER

The Yantises, Paradis (pronounced PAR-a-dis) and a family friend, Joe Rumsey, were finishing dinner about 6:45 p.m. Sunday in the Yantises’ home near milepost 142 of U.S. 95, about 6 miles north of Council.

They had been together since they were little kids. This was their dream. I mean, he cut logs for 20 years to pay for this place.

Nephew Rowdy Paradis on Jack and Donna Yantis and their ranch

An Adams County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher called. One of the family’s bulls had just been hit by a car on the highway, and the Yantises needed to go take care of it.

In rural open range, collisions between vehicles and livestock are not uncommon. Ranchers often must put down the injured animals. Jack Yantis had unfortunately done it before.

Yantis had raised and tamed the 2,500-pound black Gelbvieh bull, similar to an Angus, named Keiford. Its rear leg was shattered by the collision with a Subaru station wagon. The bull started charging people at the crash scene.

Paradis walked down to check out the situation. The injured bull had made its way back to the driveway and was lying in the grass.

“He knew he was home,” Paradis said. “He was hurt. But he is still an Angus bull on the fight.”
DEPUTIES SHOOT BULL

Jack Yantis told Paradis to get a rifle, the family’s skid-steer loader (a small front-end loader) and a chain. Paradis in turn asked his aunt to the get the family’s .204-caliber rifle and bring it to the road.

Yantis took a small all-terrain vehicle, in this case a four-wheeler, down the driveway and parked it on the highway facing the animal.

Jack went to the end of the driveway to end the bull’s life and protect anyone from getting hurt, including the very deputies who shot and killed him.

Donna Yantis, widow

While Paradis was getting the skid loader, the deputies started shooting at the bull. At least one of them had a semiautomatic rifle, perhaps an AR-15, an adaptation of the military M16.

“They opened up with their pistols and their M16s ... before Jack got there,” Paradis said. “That’s an inhumane deal. ... This is a 2-ton Angus bull that’s pissed off, he’s hurt and psychotic. ... It was blazing down there and it sounded like World War III on this bull, because they got him charging at everyone again.”

Paradis drove the skid loader down the driveway and parked on the highway. The bull was lying on the pavement. Donna Yantis had walked the rifle to her husband. Jack Yantis was standing about 4 feet from the bull, aiming the rifle at the back of the bull’s head. His back was to the two deputies, who were standing in the far lane facing each other as if they were having a conversation.

“I put the (skid loader’s) lights on him and the bull, and he lined up to shoot the bull in the back of head and put him out humanely,” Paradis said.
DEPUTIES SHOOT YANTIS

The rifle’s barrel was about 2 feet from the bull, and Jack Yantis’ finger was on the trigger.

“Everything was going as planned. … I did not notice any conversation at all” between Jack Yantis and the deputies, Paradis said. “Then the one cop turned around and grabbed his shoulder and jerked him backwards.”

The deputy came from behind, spun Yantis around and grabbed the rifle’s scope, Paradis said.

The deputy pushed Yantis. The rifle was still in Yantis’ hands, its barrel pointed at the ground. Yantis was trying to regain his footing.

Paradis said he does not know whether the rifle fired, but he thinks it might have discharged accidentally when the deputy grabbed Yantis and spun him, or when one of the deputy’s bullets pierced Yantis’ hand holding the rifle, hitting the gun and damaging it.

One deputy began shooting at Yantis, then the other deputy started shooting.
HANDCUFFS AND A HEART ATTACK

Donna Yantis said she and Paradis screamed at the deputies to stop.

Shot in the chest and abdomen, Jack Yantis fell to the ground. Neither deputy went to check on him. Paradis and Donna Yantis started running toward him.

“And then they threatened me and my nephew ... threw us on the middle of Highway 95, searched us and handcuffed us, and wouldn’t let us go take care of Jack,” Donna Yantis said.

Paradis said one deputy pointed his gun at Paradis’ head.

Donna Yantis had a heart attack. Some time later, she was taken by ambulance to Midvale and then by helicopter to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where she remained hospitalized Saturday.

Rumsey, the family friend at dinner, had been near the wrecked car when the shooting started and ran toward Jack. The deputies handcuffed him, too.
‘IT WAS A SENSELESS MURDER’

One deputy said he had been grazed by a bullet, Rumsey said. “I asked him, ‘Where?’ I said, ‘That’s bull----.’ There was no blood, no torn thread, no powder burn. There was nothing.”

After the shooting, Paradis said, the deputies’ demeanor was “smug” and “almost celebratory.”

A deputy walked over, pulled Yantis’ rifle from under his body and threw it into the grass.

“There was no shootout. It was a senseless murder,” the Yantis’ daughter, Sarah, told the Statesman.

My dad is dead and the two deputies who killed him are on paid vacation. That makes me angry.

Sarah Yantis, daughter

Meanwhile, the bull was still alive, slowly bleeding out on the roadway. Family members asked the deputies to put it down to end its suffering. No one did.

“The bull ended up lying there for two hours,” Paradis said, “suffocating in his own lung blood because they shot him in the gut.”


Cynthia Sewell: 208-377-6428, @CynthiaSewell

Meanwhile, back in Ferguson:



Recently the Justice Department investigated Ferguson, MO and found that they have drastically ramped up “lifestyle fines.” Municipal citations are up 495% since 2010. Guess which group is being hit hardest… Cenk Uygur, host of the The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"A small suburb of St. Louis where 95 percent of residents are black has allegedly found a new source of revenue by increasing municipal citations by 495 percent since 2010, a lawsuit claimed this week.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Institute for Justice’s office filed a lawsuit seeking class action status this week against the city of Pagedale.

The lawsuits accuses Pagedale of “an unprecedented governmental intrusion into the homes of its residents” for issuing tickets for things like barbecuing in the front yard, drinking beer too close to the grill and even saggy pants.

In some cases, residents said that Pagedale officials threatened to demolish their homes, even though the city admitted that the homes were only a nuisance and presented no public safety threat.”*

Read more here: https://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/st-louis-suburb-funds-itself-by-increasing-nuisance-ticketing-on-black-homes-by-495-percent-lawsuit/

Odd that a government with 95 percent black citizens could not vote out anyone in office that are mistreating them to the claimed degree that is happening.

This police situation is surely out of hand, something must be done and quickly to stop these bully killing cops.

.

I agree, it is getting where I am scared to be stopped when I am out driving and I am not black. I am handicapped and that seems to be another reason to be killed.

See how effective you Teabillies are at making it harder to vote?

If I were a woman driving after dark and the lights and sirens come on in an unlit and desolate stretch of road: I'd be scared.

Counter-Insurgency in the Classroom
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/33383-counter-insurgency-in-the-classroom

On an early November morning in 2003, students at Stratford High in Goose Creek, SC milled around the school’s hallways and cafeteria waiting for the school day to start. Their morning routine was shattered, however, when police in SWAT team armor suddenly burst out of utility closets and stairwells with guns drawn, screaming at them to get on the ground. Terrified, some students froze in place while others ran for cover.

Black students in particular were the targets of intimidation and arrest. The principal, George McCrackin, coordinated with local police, timing the raid so it occurred just after the buses transporting students from predominantly black neighborhoods arrived. And two-thirds of those arrested were African American. As Jessica Chinners, a white tenth grader, said, “I looked down the long hall and saw the police lining up all these black students.”

While police “secured” the school, McCrackin personally accompanied officers through the cafeteria, pointing out students he thought should be arrested. Teenagers were removed at gunpoint with their hands zip-tied behind their backs while police dogs sniffed them for drugs — none of which they found. “I really don’t know why they did what they did to me,” Rodney Goodwin, a black tenth grade student, later told reporters. “I didn’t do anything wrong, but they arrested me.”

Video of the raid was leaked online, sparking outrage. In a letter to parents McCrackin attempted to exonerate himself: “I was surprised and extremely concerned when I observed the guns drawn. However, once police are on campus, they are in charge.” While McCrackin failed to mention his crucial role in the raid, his comment did highlight a stark truth about police and schooling: once cops are on campus, they are in control.

So with a 95 percent population not enough black citizens could vote to get whoever they care for in or out of office!!!!!!

That is amazing and even under Jim crow of the 1940s-1950s that would be amazing indeed.

Lawmakers demand details on federal use of Stingray phone surveillance
Source: The Guardian

The chair of the House of Representatives oversight committee, Jason Chaffetz, with several subcommittee chairs, has sent a letter to the heads of 24 federal agencies, demanding information on the use of Stingray surveillance devices.
IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal
Read more

Stingrays are the best known of a class of devices known as “cell-site simulators”. Roughly the size of a suitcase, such devices operate by pretending to be cellphone towers, then stripping data and metadata from phones which connect to them.

Use of the devices does not require a warrant. A bill introduced by Chaffetz last week aims to change that.

In the letters sent out on Monday, Chaffetz, with the committee’s ranking Democrat, Elijah Cummings, and the chair and ranking member of the information technology subcommittee, Will Hurd and Mike Kelly, demanded agencies provide all documented policies and guidelines regarding Stingray use, as well as related memoranda, non-disclosure agreements and purchase orders.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/09/congress-stingray-surveillance-jason-chaffetz-elijah-cummings

Cop Shows Up ‘Wasted’ on Duty to Receive Award for DUI Arrests at MADD Conference

Officer Szeliga was scheduled to receive an award at the conference, for making over 100 DUI arrests, but he actually showed up drunk himself.
By John Vibes / The Free Thought Project
November 9, 2015

Pinellas County, FL – Officer Michael Szeliga of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department showed up to a Mothers Against Drunk Driving conference in Fort Lauderdale so drunk that he could not even walk straight.

Szeliga was scheduled to receive an award at the conference, for making over 100 DUI arrests, but he actually showed up drunk himself, and it is assumed that he drove himself to the conference in that state. However, the officer denies that he drove drunk and insists that he only had one or two drinks before the conference.
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“It was wrong, and again, one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard of. When I first heard about it, that was (what) my reaction was. ‘Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me. Really?’” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

Once his supervisors encountered him, they described him as being “wasted” and sent him back to his hotel room to miss out on both the conference and his award.

After the incident, Szeliga was reprimanded and was given one day of paid suspension, and was forced to write an apology letter to the supervisors for being belligerent with them. Szeliga was scheduled to be promoted to detective and his promotion was not affected by the incident at the conference, he now works as a detective in the sheriff’s crimes against children unit, according to WFLA.

Oddly enough, this is actually not the first time that we reported on a story like this. Around this time last year, David Griffin, acting chapter president for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and a former deputy police chief was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Since the incident, Griffin has resigned from his position with MADD after 18 years of being a CEO and high-ranking member of the organization.

Back in 2011, Debra Oberlin, a former president of MADD was arrested for driving with an alcohol level that was three times the legal limit.

John Vibes is an author, researcher and investigative journalist.

Cop Shows Up ‘Wasted’ on Duty to Receive Award for DUI Arrests at MADD Conference



Officer Szeliga was scheduled to receive an award at the conference, for making over 100 DUI arrests, but he actually showed up drunk himself.
By John Vibes / The Free Thought Project
November 9, 2015

Pinellas County, FL – Officer Michael Szeliga of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department showed up to a Mothers Against Drunk Driving conference in Fort Lauderdale so drunk that he could not even walk straight.

Szeliga was scheduled to receive an award at the conference, for making over 100 DUI arrests, but he actually showed up drunk himself, and it is assumed that he drove himself to the conference in that state. However, the officer denies that he drove drunk and insists that he only had one or two drinks before the conference.
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“It was wrong, and again, one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard of. When I first heard about it, that was (what) my reaction was. ‘Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me. Really?’” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

Once his supervisors encountered him, they described him as being “wasted” and sent him back to his hotel room to miss out on both the conference and his award.

After the incident, Szeliga was reprimanded and was given one day of paid suspension, and was forced to write an apology letter to the supervisors for being belligerent with them. Szeliga was scheduled to be promoted to detective and his promotion was not affected by the incident at the conference, he now works as a detective in the sheriff’s crimes against children unit, according to WFLA.

Oddly enough, this is actually not the first time that we reported on a story like this. Around this time last year, David Griffin, acting chapter president for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and a former deputy police chief was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Since the incident, Griffin has resigned from his position with MADD after 18 years of being a CEO and high-ranking member of the organization.

Back in 2011, Debra Oberlin, a former president of MADD was arrested for driving with an alcohol level that was three times the legal limit.

John Vibes is an author, researcher and investigative journalist.

Lawyer: Motorist had hands up as police killed his boy

Louisiana police arrest 2 officers in autistic boy's death


In this photo combination shows booking photos provided by the Louisiana State Police, Marksville City Marshal Derrick Stafford, left, and Marksville City Marshal Norris Greenhouse Jr., both were arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Jeremy Mardis, a six-year-old autistic boy, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 in Marksville, La. The shooting also wounded Mardis' father, Chris Few. (Louisiana State Police via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

The Associated Press

MARKSVILLE, La. —

A police body camera recorded the father of a 6-year-old autistic boy with his hands up and posing no threat as police opened fire into his car, severely wounding the motorist and killing his son, the man's lawyer said Monday.

"This was not a threatening situation for the police," said Mark Jeansonne, the attorney for Chris Few, who remained hospitalized Monday and could not attend the funeral of his son, Jeremy Mardis.

Jeansonne (ZHAN'-sawn) spoke with The Associated Press after a closed hearing in a Louisiana jail where he said the two local marshals were ordered held on $1 million bonds. Derrick Stafford, 32, of Mansura, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, of Marksville, are both charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

The lawyer said he still hasn't seen the video, but its contents were described to the judge during the hearing.

He also said that while Few's condition is improving, he has not yet been told that his son died at the scene.

State police declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Also Monday, District Attorney Charles A. Riddle recused himself from the case because one of his top assistant prosecutors is the father of Greenhouse. The case is "not good for any of us," Riddle said.

The state attorney general's office will take over the prosecution.

The possibility that the officers could post bond and be released Monday, despite the murder charges, didn't sit well with some townspeople who gathered outside the jail.

"The same day the boy is being buried," said Barbara Scott. "Shame, shame, shame."

"This child couldn't hurt a fly and his life is gone. I feel justice was not served," added Latasha Murray.

Louisiana State Police announced late Friday that they had arrested the two marshals in Tuesday's shooting, which raised questions from the start. Initial reports suggested the marshals had been serving a warrant on Few, but Louisiana's state police chief, Col. Mike Edmonson, said there was no evidence of a warrant, nor was there a gun found at the scene.

Investigators have been reviewing forensics evidence, 911 calls and body camera recordings, which Edmonson described at a news conference Friday. State police said the boy died wearing his seatbelt in the front passenger seat.

"It's the most disturbing thing I've seen — and I will leave it at that," Edmonson said. "Jeremy Mardis is 6 years old. He didn't deserve to die like that."

Stafford is a full-time lieutenant with the Marksville Police Department; Greenhouse is a full-time city marshal. Both were working part time as deputy marshals in Marksville on Tuesday when they allegedly opened fire.

The boy was mourned Monday at his funeral in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he lived before moving with his father recently to Louisiana.

Outside the funeral home, Anita Bonnette, the assistant principal from Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana, said the school brought in a crisis team to counsel Jeremy's classmates and teachers.

"He was just a very sweet loving little boy who enjoyed being at school and enjoyed his friends," she said.

___

Associated Press Writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this story from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

___

This story has been changed to correct Greenhouse's first name to Norris; an earlier version erroneously said his name was Derrick.

Copyright The Associated Press

Insane Video Shows Gang of Cops Beat 2 Non-violent Men for Walking Across the Street
The Austin Police Department is no stranger to violent arrests for jaywalking.
By Matt Agorist / The Free Thought Project
November 9, 2015



Austin, TX — A group of friends, Jeremy Kingg, Lou Glen, Matt Wallace, and Rolando Ramiro were walking home Early Friday morning when they crossed the street in a manner unfit for a police state.

“We were walking across the street, the sign said ‘do not walk,’ but lights were already turning yellow and streets were blocked off, so we kept walking,” Ramiro says.
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“[Police] flashed their flashlights at us, asked us to show them our IDs. Matt and Jeremy said to f— off,” noting that the street was barricaded so the ‘crime’ of Jaywalking was a moot point when cars are unable to drive down the street.

However, the half-dozen officers attempting to assert their authority over group did not approve of Wallace and Kingg’s tone, so they felt a gang beating was in order.

All of the sudden, multiple Austin cops coming running from their bicycles and proceed to start punching, kneeing, and kicking two young men.

When asked what crime they committed, one officer turned up and said, “crossed against the light.”

This insanely violent response from police for crossing the street is the epitome of the divide in America today that continues to grow between the police and the policed. This is not how you treat people.

After the video began to go viral, the APD released the following statement:

The Austin Police Department has been made aware of the incident that occurred Friday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 a.m. in the 600 block of E. Sixth Street. As is standard protocol, the Chain of Command will review the Response to Resistance and the incident to determine what led up to the events captured in the video and whether the officer’s actions were in compliance with APD policy.

The APD is no stranger to violent arrests for jaywalking. Last year, 4 APD officers applied a ridiculous amount of force to a tiny college girl for jogging ‘against the light.’

When police were asked to issue a statement about the stop, which made world news, APD chief Art Acevedo implied that the girl should feel lucky that none of his officers raped her.

“This person absolutely took something that was as simple as ‘Austin Police – Stop!’ and decided to do everything you see on that video,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a press conference Friday, according to Austin NPR station 90.5 KUT. “And quite frankly she wasn’t charged with resisting. She’s lucky I wasn’t the arresting officer, because I wouldn’t have been as generous. … In other cities there’s cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas,” Acevedo said.

This is what crossing the street in a police state looks like.

APD Chief Apologizes for Sexual Assault Comment After Jaywalking Jogger Arrest (Update)
By Filipa Rodrigues • Feb 22, 2014
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Amanda Stephen is detained by two Austin Police officers. Her arrest was filmed, creating a social media firestorm.
Credit Chris Quintero

Update: Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo apologized Saturday for comments he made during a press conference about the arrest of a jogger for jaywalking near the UT campus. During that press conference, Acevedo said that "In other cities there's cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas."

In his apology statement Saturday, Acevedo said that "the comparison was a poor analogy, and for this I apologize." You can read the full apology here.

Original Story (Feb. 21, 4:58 p.m.): Austin Police arrested a woman jogging by the UT Campus Thursday morning for not providing identification after being stopped. The incident was caught on video by a UT student, Chris Quintero, who witnessed the woman being taken into custody.

According to police, the woman disregarded traffic signals at the intersection of West 24th and San Antonio streets as she was running. After failing to provide identification, Amanda Stephen was detained and arrested.

"This person absolutely took something that was as simple as "Austin Police – Stop!' and decided to do everything you see on that video," Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo at a press conference this afternoon. "And quite frankly she wasn't charged with resisting. She's lucky I wasn't the arresting officer, because I wouldn't have been as generous."

Quintero, the student that filmed the arrest, had a different take on his blog:

Suddenly, one of the cops shouts at an innocent girl jogging with her headphones on through West Campus. He wobbled after her and grabbed her by the arm. Startled, and not knowing it was a cop, she jerked her arm away. The cop viewed this as resisting arrest and proceeded to grab both arms tightly, placing her in handcuffs. She repeatedly pleaded with them saying that she was just exercising and to let her go. She repeatedly cried out, “I did not do anything wrong…just give me the ticket.” The other officer strolled over and now they were making a scene. She tried to get up. I doubt she was running away as she was in handcuffs, but the second cop pushed her back down to the ground.

The video posted online prompted criticism on social media sites like Reddit regarding how the police reacted. APD says the officers involved were conducting an initiative focused on traffic and pedestrian violations that began Feb. 1.

"In other cities there's cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas," Acevedo said.

Sotomayor rips Supreme Court for letting cops get away with a ‘shoot first, think later’ approach
Source: raw story




Tom Boggioni

09 Nov 2015 at 13:14 ET



In a powerfully written dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the thinking of some of her fellow justices after the court dismissed a case involving a police officer fatally shooting a fleeing suspect in Texas.

According to Sotomayor, it was a case of “shoot first, think later.”

On Monday, the court dismissed a case involving the 2010 shooting death of Israel Leija, Jr. during a high speed police chase in Texas, reports NBC News.

During the chase — at speeds up to 110 miles per hour — Leija repeatedly called police on his cellphone and warned them that he had a gun and would shoot police officers if they failed to call off the pursuit.

After police set up tire spikes to slow down the car, State Trooper Chadrin Mullenix of the Texas Department of Public Safety decided to disable the car by shooting at it, but was told by his supervisor to stand by to see if the spikes worked first.

Mullenix disregarded his instructions and fired at the speeding car from an overpass, causing the driver to lose control and the vehicle to roll over before reaching the spikes. An autopsy revealed that four of the six shots Mullenix fired at the car had hit Leija instead, killing him.

According to an unsigned opinion from the court, the doctrine of police immunity in shootings protects “all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law,” and that the use of deadly force during a dangerous car chase has never previously been held to be a constitutional violation..................

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/sotomayor-rips-supreme-court-for-letting-cops-get-away-with-a-shoot-first-think-later-approach-to-violence/

And the american people will overwhelmingly say that the court got this right. The cop should be fired for insubordination in my view.

Of course the court got this right as under those conditions to rule otherwise mean that the police would need to wait until they are under fired with the strong likelihood of unneeded police deaths occurring.

When someone is clearly that dangerous you allowed the police to shoot fire just as they did in the bonnie and clyde take down.

An yes the cop should be punished by his department or fired for not obeying his orders but not charge with a crime.

TonyRM, you do realize that sort of crap happened once, right? That this was an intentional assassination, right?

Of course it was an intentional killings of two people who was armed with heavy weapons IE BARs and who had killed police officers and others.

No way would any sane person given them a chance to kill more offcers in another shoot out by asking them nicely to surrender.