Cop walks in murder of two unarmed suspects. |
Yeah, they've fled when an officer spotted them in East Cleveland. Yeah, they led a lot of officers on a high speed pursuit across the Cleveland streets. Yeah, they were boxed in. But when the Cleveland Police, Cuyahoga County Sheriff deuties and East Cleveland Police opened fire on them, it was deadly. It was over 130 rounds being fired into the vehicle.
The whole ordeal happened in November 2012. One of the officers even jumped onto the vehicle to continue firing. Well today, that officer was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.
The officer Michael Brelo can leave the courtroom a free man. If he was convicted of this charge, he would have spent a quarter in the iron college.
The U.S. Justice Department is already poking holes into the way Cleveland Police handle officer involved shootings. The Tamir Rice shooting and the lack of interest in the Cleveland Kidnapping Case has the police department under the radar for a major overhaul.
The vehicle took over 130 rounds into it. |
For the amount of shells raining on that vehicle, you can say that was considered excessive force.
Russell was picking up Williams a known prostitute in the area. Williams was a drug user and was charged with misdemeanors ranging from prostitution to petty theft.
Russell was spotted by officers. He was trying to avoid getting caught. He had driving privileges revoked and had minor criminal theft charges. Russell didn't want to be caught.
Free man. Michael Brelo got off an involuntary manslaughter charge. |
No one is saying being the police are bad people. They do a dangerous job and most of the time it's a thankless job. They risk their lives 24/7 and the need for them is essential. But one too many believe that the police are enforcing more than protecting. I mean the distrust is extremely high.
Some officers only see residents as criminals and not victims. They don't want to protect the residents. They want to lock them up because they had a string of misfortune.
Who could judge them?
These days a cop is careful about interactions with people of color. They don't want to become overnight celebrities because of a person and their cell phones.
World News Today send our condolences to Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.