Thursday, May 30, 2024

What Happened To Samuel Sterling And Riley Doggett?

Riley Doggett and Samuel Sterling were killed by police officers using their vehicles as weapons.

Be warned, there will be graphic videos.

What is going on in Kent County, Michigan?

The need for police reform in the case of high speed chases, apprehension and community relations with people of color. 

Yeah, I know the Kia Boyz are annoying criminals who ruin the lives of motorists. I am a testament. The igorant Kia Boyz broke into my vehicle. They could not steal it because it was a push button but they seriously damaged my window siding. Someone also dented my passenger side as well. I am still frustrated that the police can't do anything about it.

It is vandalism and property theft. It is a crime that is replaceable by insurance. 

If it was a injury or death, the police would react to this more. Mind you, we can't kill a thief if the person is not posing a threat. Police will not buy the excuse that property theft is worthy of death by a civilian.

Michigan State Police sergeant used his unmarked vehicle as a weapon.

But oh well, I found my only solace in watching videos on social media of Kia Boyz getting a classic style of Black punishment. Back in the day, Black boys who caused problems would get their asses whooped with a belt. Those belts straightened out children.

Now if you put a belt to a child, you could be arrested for child abuse and children services could put your child in protective custody.

Anyway to the subject of Kent County. It is in the lower peninsula of Michigan. It is called West Michigan. The city of Grand Rapids is the seat of the county. It has a population of 654,000 residents. 

Interstate 96, Interstate 196, U.S. Highway 131 and Michigan 6 (Paul Henry Freeway) are the major roads in the county. The Grand River is a major river in the state. 

Republican prosecutor Chris Becker decline prosecuting dirty cops.

Kent County is a fairly Republican area. Out of the 40 years, Barack Obama and Joe Biden managed to flip the county once. Obama in 2008 and Biden in 2020. It will make a difference for Biden of he retains the county. It is going to be challenging knowing that he had uncommitted in the primary take over 15% of the vote which equals over 148,000 voters. Biden won Michigan by 1.2% of the vote.

Gerald Ford once represented the area as a congressman before he became vice president and later president for one term. Ford could have been a great president had he not pardoned his former boss Richard Nixon after he resigned from office after facing a possible impeachment for abuse of power.
No mugshot of Brian Neeley.

The current lawmaker Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) faces a tough challenge. The freshman lawmaker supports Israel, supported the TikTok ban, condemned Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her stances on Israel and voted with Biden policies 96% of the time. While Republicans are 100% supportive of Israel and its genocide because they relish in dehumanizing people. The Democrats are 95% supportive of Israel and the party's core base is disappointed in Biden and the party's support of apartheid ethnostate.

The type of training American police officers are given came through Israel. The Israelis use vehicles to run over Palestinians without any consequences. They used tractors, police SUVs and tanks on civilians. They trained U.S. law enforcement in Israel tactics on how to apprehend civilians.

Two incidents where police officers used their vehicles as weapons in apprehension. Both of the suspects died.

One man was ran over after fleeing an arrest. The Michigan State Police task force tried to apprehend him when a sergeant in his vehicle pinned the suspect into a wall of a Burger King.

Detective Sgt. Brian Keely, 50, of Grand Rapids, was part of a fugitive task force trying to take Samuel Sterling into custody on April 17, 2024. Keely is charged with one count of second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence, and one count of involuntary manslaughter, a felony carrying a 15-year sentence.

Sterling fled on foot shortly before noon, sparking a chase involving state troopers and other law enforcement agencies.

Sterling was in the parking lot of a Kentwood fast food restaurant when Keely struck him with the unmarked vehicle he was driving, according to authorities.

Smirking deputy Josiah McMains.
Officials said Sterling died later that day at the University of Michigan Metro Health Hospital.

On Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Keely with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Second-degree murder is a life felony, and involuntary manslaughter is a 15-year felony.

“Public integrity is a top priority for my department, and we remain committed to providing a thorough and just review and resolution in each case brought before us,” Nessel said.

Nessel argues Keely was grossly negligent and created a high risk of death or great bodily harm that could have been prevented.

Keely will be arraigned at 62-B District Court in Kentwood, but that court date has not yet been scheduled. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 
One teen was ran over after a police chase where he jumped out of the passenger seat and the Kent County sheriff's department deputy who was a K-9 handler ran him over.

The Kent County prosecutor declined to charge the deputy for his actions. It will be up to Nessel to indict the deputy.

No charges will be filed against a Kent County deputy accused of hitting and killing a teenager with a sheriff's cruiser, according to Kent County Republican Prosecutor Chris Becker.

"Based on the facts of the circumstances, I did not find a basis to charge the officer," Becker said at a news conference Tuesday.

Riley Doggett, 17, died of his injuries in the hospital on May 9.

Rep. John James (R-MI) and Kent County sheriff, Republican Michelle Lajoye-Young.

The 17-year-old and another teenager were found driving a stolen Land Rover near the Allegan-Ottawa County line on April 8 when they crashed and tried to run away.

Doggett would be sideswiped by a sheriff's cruiser driven by deputy Josiah McMains minutes later, catching his leg under the car and landing hard on his head, according to the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

Two weeks after Doggett's death Tuesday, Becker announced that McMains wouldn't be charged in the case due to insufficient evidence.

Evaluations of multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving causing death and moving violation causing death, also did not fit the description of the incident, Becker said.

The driver of the stolen car, on the other hand, faces charges of fleeing and eluding causing death and continuing criminal enterprises, or CCE.

The juvenile could also be charged as an adult because the four minute, 45 second chase ended in Doggett's death, according to Becker.

The police using their vehicles as weapons now.

Tuesday's announcement comes just four days after attorney Ven Johnson, who is representing the Doggett family, claimed that the family has yet to receive a police report surrounding the 17-year-old's death.

Because of this, a civil action lawsuit has not yet been filed.

Johnson spoke with the junk food media after Becker's announcement of the charges against the juvenile driver.

"We obviously disagree with prosecutor Becker's conclusion that he can't bring charges, but that's his call," Johnson said.

Becky Wilbert, Doggett's mother, said they brought charges against the wrong person.

"The juvenile driver is not the one who hit my son," she said. "The officer hit my son."

Johnson and the Doggetts had demanded that police release footage of the teenager's death, saying that deputies should not be allowed to "hide it."

"They should not be allowed to hide this from the families, hide this from the public," Johnson said. "To be able to hide this video from the family and from the public for 46 days is shameful and disrespectful." At Tuesday's news conference Becker said the family had been allowed to see the video.

Dana Nessel must hold the Kent County Sheriff's Department accountable.

Moving forward, Doggett's family plans to conduct an independent autopsy, saying they believe the teenager's death was due to excessive and deadly force.

"That's not a side swipe, especially when you have the front passenger's side wheel running up the back of your left leg, taking your shoe off, and leaving a tire print on your left calf," Johnson said.

Wilbert is worried about the possible precedent this situation may set.

"These officers are getting out of control, and without charges being pressed, that more officers will think that they can do the same thing and get away with it, and that's not okay," she said.

Johnson said he plans to write a letter to Nessel, asking her to review the evidence and bring criminal charges against McMains.

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