Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Cleveland yesterday to protest the acquittal of a police officer who prosecutors had charged with voluntary manslaughter over the deaths of an unarmed black couple. Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams announced today that in response to growing aggression amid the protests last night, police had made 71 arrests on charges of aggravated rioting and obstruction of justice. Yesterday, a judge ruled that Officer Michael Brelo was not guilty of voluntary manslaughter or felonious assault related to the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, who were shot by police at the end of long car chase in November 2012. Officers had fired 137 times at the couple’s car, 49 shots of which came from Officer Brelo. No weapons were found on the couple, and prosecutors argued that Brelo had deliberately fired the fatal rounds at near point-blank rage after climbing onto the hood of their vehicle.
In Judge John P. O’Donnell’s explanation of his ruling on the case, he said there was no evidence that Brelo was solely responsible for the couple’s deaths, as their fatal bullet wounds came from multiple directions and only a few of those bullets could have come from Brelo. Regarding why Brelo was not guilty of assault, the judge indicated that the officer’s fear for his life justified his actions. Brelo still faces administrative charges from the Cleveland Police Department and remains suspended without pay. The U.S. Department of Justice is now launching their own investigation into the case as well.
I live just outside Cleveland,and have a friend who is a Cleveland cop. Cleveland PD has a long history of violating citizens rights,beating “suspects”,searching homes without warrants-then getting the warrant after the search and on and on.
My friend doesn’t work in the district where this idiocy started,and wasn’t involved in the “incident”,but-according to all the cops he talked to-Brelo should have been found guilty of something,most cops said to other cops that Brelo was in the wrong.
The problem with that is ALL the cops involved were wrong-how the hell can these idiots mistake a car backfiring for a gunshot? Morons.
The couple had a history with Cleveland cops-so what,it was a car chase that should have been called off in the first place,as speeds of 100 mph are not safe for anyone on the lousy roads going out of downtown.
The cops executed the couple-period. There is no justification for it. Brelo fired a total of 49 rounds-not sure how the get that number-15 per mag,times 3 mags is 45 rounds.
Brelo jumped on the hood of the car and fired 15 rounds-after the other 122 rounds had been fired into the car-yes,it’s impossible to prove his shots were the fatal shots.
So charge ALL the cops involved-they are ALL guilty.
The sad thing about all this is that there is no “good side” to stand behind.
The cops are as dirty as the criminals. Both sides denigrate the very concept and standing of the law, and as ever, it is the ‘law abiding’ who will suffer the after-effects.
This is what happens, when you create a group whose interests diverge from those of the community they “serve”. Cops. Politicians. Teachers. Regardless of their occupation, when people become segregated from their community, and begin to contemplate others in an Us/Them fashion, trouble comes swiftly.
Unions, Corporations, Political parties, Home-owners Associations, etc. – the leaders of all these collectivist organizations are on the hook for the evils they and their organizations do. In the new paradigm, I strongly suspect that none of these organizations will be welcome in our communities…