"They just shot that motherfucking man right here....[Yeah], I'm going record this shit", says the person using his camera phone.
"Take a good look it's the Black motherfucking [cop] that killed this man....." said the person filming in the final minutes.
The social media and the price of fame. The filmmaker wanted to post this on the internet. Instead of holding evidence in the case of a trial, he clearly advocated the officer's side of the story. See reactionary brings nothing but trouble. Now this filmmaker will be harassed or subject to death threats.
The negative publicity. The Los Angeles Police Department is just like New York. With the power comes the respect. They are well respected by a majority. But the minority, ahem, hates the LAPD.
The LAPD has a controversial history. There's been many officer involved incidents where suspects of color were injured or killed. The controversial tactics used in an arrest are often mirrored in legal action.
All the mixture of tension brought to you by the folks who post on YouTube.
As reported, an officer has the legal right to lie in order to justify a traffic citation, an arrest, and a shooting.
The suspect is dead and the LAPD is doing damage control.
Today, I just saw this video that is extremely disturbing. The LAPD was apprehending two individuals and I guess after a brief confrontation, one of the many LAPD officers opened fired on the suspect.
According to the LAPD, the suspect was reaching for the arresting officer's gun. There were minor injuries for the two arresting officers. The Los Angeles Times reports that Cmdr. Andrew Smith said officers assigned to the LAPD's Central Division and Safer Cities Initiative — a task force focused on skid row — responded to the location about noon Sunday after receiving a 911 call reporting a possible robbery.
The possible robbery ended with a man being shot and a woman being arrested.
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| The LAPD doing damage control after a filmmaker records them opening fire on an unarmed suspect. |
The deceased is apparently homeless
What did the woman do?
The woman seen in the video recording picking up an officer's baton was detained and is expected to be arrested, Smith said. She had not been booked as of 9 p.m. Sunday, and it was unclear what charges she would face, but Smith said the arrest would stem from her picking up the baton.
Smith said that, based on the video recording, it was unclear what the officers told the man before they fired. He said investigators would use audio enhancement software to determine what exactly was said and when.
"Of course we're aware of the video," he said. "Any video that shows someone losing their life in an altercation with police is going to be disturbing. It's disturbing for police officers to watch."
Disturbing!
Hell, the police are pissed that a man filmed the officer killing an unarmed suspect. The person named Anthony Blackburn posted it on the social media. It's graphic so you will have to click on the link posted right below.
If there weren't people so frustrated with the police in the wake of high profile shootings such as the Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, John Crawford and Akai Gurley controversies, you wouldn't see camera phones being used.
And to make this clear, you are allowed to film police. They may try to "justify" an arrest by saying you're impeding on an arresting officer or disorderly conduct. You can lawyer up and tell the judge that you had a right to film public servants while on duty.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO FILM THE POLICE!
I think some in the LAPD will be humming "mean ol' Mike Brown". There will be some who probably high-five each other when they kill a suspect they accused of threatening the life of an officer.
The LAPD will place the shooting officer on administrative leave. The officer will contact his union boss, an attorney and a therapist. He will say that "that guy reached for his gun!"
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| LAPD stand in pose trying to keep the peace. |
Evidence technicians and other officers will wrap the police tape over areas and other officers may "step" on evidence.
"It's always tragic when there's a loss of life in one of these situations," Smith continued. "It's not an incident taken lightly by any police officer. But we are committed to everyone involved and to the public to conduct a thorough and complete investigation."
Smith said investigators were looking for any other video that captured the incident, including footage from the body cameras some of the officers may have been wearing. Officers assigned to the Safer Cities Initiative were part of the LAPD's pilot program for the new technology and are equipped with the devices.
At least one officer involved in the incident was wearing a body camera, Smith said.
Well let's hope those body cameras were in use when this event happened. Maybe a camera worn by the arresting or assisting officer could provide a better look into how this shooting was justified.
The dramatic confrontation was caught on video, which was later posted on Facebook (the video contains foul language). It shows a group of officers getting into a scuffle with a man standing on a sidewalk littered with tents and other debris.
The man continues to scuffle with four of the officers, even after he's wrestled to the ground. What appears to be one of the officers is heard saying "Drop the gun. Drop the gun."
Then, at least one of the officers opens fire on the man, who remained on the ground with at least two officers near him.
Five gunshots are heard on the recording.
Police have not identified the dead man or said how many officers were involved, or how many shots were fired. The man was declared dead at a hospital shortly after the shooting, which occurred about noon, according to police spokesman Sgt. Barry Montgomery.
He said that at one point during the struggle a Taser had been deployed, but investigators did not know if it was used on the man who was subsequently shot.
Witnesses at the scene identified the victim by his street name, “Africa”, and gave conflicting accounts of what they saw.
Dennis Horne, 29, said Africa had been fighting with someone else in his tent when police arrived.
When Africa refused to comply with a police order to come out of the tent, officers used the Taser on him and dragged him out, Horne said. The officers tackled Africa to the ground, where he continued to fight, which led to the fatal shooting, according to Horne.
“It's sad,” Horne said. “There's no justification to take somebody's life.”
Another witness, Lonnie Franklin, 53, said five to six officers pulled up in three to four cars as Africa was lying face down on the sidewalk. The officers approached with guns drawn yelling, ”Down, down,” according to Franklin.
When Africa got up and started fighting, the officers “went straight to lethal force,” Franklin said.
But Jose Gil, 38 , said he saw the man swinging at the police and then heard one of the officers say, “Gun, gun, he's got my gun!” before police fired multiple shots.
Another witness, who asked not to be identified, said the man punched and kicked the officers and reached for one of their service weapons before the officers fired at least seven times.
An area resident, who identified himself as Booker T. Washington, said police had come by repeatedly to ask Africa to take down his tent. People are allowed to sleep on the streets from 9 p.m to 6 a.m., but they are supposed to remove their tents in the daytime under a court agreement.
“This man got shot over a tent,” Washington said.
Ina Murphy, who lives in an apartment nearby, said Africa had arrived in the area about four or five months ago. He told her he had recently been released after spending 10 years in a mental facility, Murphy said.
Police Commission President Steve Soboroff first saw the video of the shooting via social media. He was watching it again when reached by a Times reporter Sunday evening, trying to hear what exactly the officers had said to the man.
"My heart just started pounding just watching it," Soboroff said. "I feel the adrenaline. These situations are just so horrific."
He stressed that the LAPD, the independent inspector general and the district attorney's office would all investigate the shooting "very, very carefully."
"Of course I would encourage people not to rush to judgment. It's not fair to anybody. It's not fair to the family of the victim or the victim or the officers," he said. "We'll find out what happened."
Montgomery said Sunday evening that investigators were in the process of interviewing "loads of people" who were in the area at the time of the shooting. He said there would potentially be more video recordings of the incident, noting that he could see two surveillance cameras mounted on buildings at the scene.
It was still unclear how many officers fired their weapons or what was said to the man before he was shot, Montgomery said.
The LA Times noted the words rush to judgement.
This is what that annoying conservative agitator does.
Say if this event makes it to the cable news agitators.
Some agitator will find some reason to agitate it. He is the prime agitator of an event that involves race. Most would find it in Rev. Perm, but seriously that annoying conservative agitator is a defender of "white rights". He is often the guy who likes to side with the officer (or vigilante) because Black leaders or President Barack Obama address concerns.
Melissa Harris-Perry, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, Tom Joyner, Rev. Perm, that annoying conservative agitator, Crazy-ass Alex Jones, O'Loofus, the Craigslist of conservative agitation, Tavis Smiley and Breitfart are the agitators. They often exploit these controversies for ratings or click bait.
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| Who are you going to believe the officer or the dead suspect? |
In the crowd was Yannick Babou, 34, a street vendor who works in skid row. Babou said he came out to show his frustration and anger with law enforcement.
"I'm not anti-police. I think we need police in society," Babou said. "But I think we need to hold police accountable when they do something wrong."
We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to "Africa", the unarmed man killed by police.
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