The shooting of that camper by APD officers in the foothills of Albuquerque is disgraceful. The video shows a deranged man surround by cops with assault rifles, shotguns, dogs and pistols. He had no where to go. He had two knives in his hand and was turning away when he was shot. Then, they kept shooting bean bag rounds at him. This video will put APD in the state of disgrace for a long time. . The Mayor needs to step up and take action. None of us can trust these trigger happy cops. You will be seeing this video everywhere soon. No need to post it here. Watching it once is enough.
8 comments:
I'm a LEO and I've never been more ashamed in my life. Disgraceful is an understatement. BUT citizens of Abq had a chance for change last October. Shame on all of us.
Jim,
Albuquerque has lost all all checks and balances. A District Attorney who is way to cozy with law enforcement, a Attorney General who refuses to act (Mary Han), a mayor who is just scared and a city council who is asleep.
Please do an article about what you would do if this happened when you were mayor. I bet we would be seeing you, Where is Berry?
I'm extremely disturbed by the police video of the shooting. The APD are out of control.
Make no mistake - APD executed this man in cold blood. Most alarming is that APD officers were 40 feet away from Mr. Boyd when they shot him. He was telling them he would go down and was putting his backpack on when they shot him. In cold blood.
As bad and troubling as the Mary Han death scene was (the complaint is here: http://cryptome.org/2014/02/han-noggle-032.pdf), the Chris Torres shooting was even more troubling and this just tops it off, doesn't it?
Isn't this mess in Don Harris' district? Where is he on this? Oh that's right - don't call COPS to film this is his position and the rest of the council is just MIA.
Disgusting. Shameful. Embarrassing. Inhuman.
At the beginning of the final event Boyd did not have any weapons in his hands. He was carrying a bag and a backpack. He must have know APD was lying to him as he repeatedly asked the officers if they were going to abide by their promises. Only after he was attacked by flashbang and dog did he arm himself. Even then he had not moved toward the officers, the officers were advancing on him. The first shots came as he was also being struck by a Taser shotgun. What seems like a moment when he raises his arms and turns left is possibly because he has lost control of his body due to taser. But this is also the moment deadly force is used. Then there is a pause and the officer filming shoots him in the back.
Eden says it is justified, wow. Eden just lost all support and faith that the community had in him. And Berry that worthless mayor once again hides from the camera. Berry's APD is a train wreck. Omarree, Boyd, Torres, etc etc etc. And all Berry does is hide. We have a coward in the mayor's office and cowardice at the city council.
I agree with everything that's been said.
What amazes me is that it's continuing unabated under the new chief, under the Justice Department investigation and under increased public scrutiny and criticism, including by the local NAACP, which is keeping track of the carnage, along with a couple citizen's groups, Albuquerque Copwatch and Police Complaints.
If anyone is interested, Dave Lindorff, an old journalist who now writes for independent media, just interviewed some experts about the increase in police violence, the explosion of SWAT teams and those kinds of tactics, and the militarization of police, while crime rates are falling.
It's up to more than 500 people a year killed by police, and Albuquerque is way out in front on a per capita basis. If not at the top.
Albuquerque isn't mentioned in the article, but I think we represent an extreme end of what is a nationwide trend.
http://whowhatwhy.com/2014/03/19/crimes-police-aggression-increasing/
Jim is right. You cannot trust
a cop anymore. If they aren't sure what's happening, if there's any confusion -- the kind of situation anyone could find themself in, or happen upon, through no ill malice -- they just shoot you.
Black people have been speaking up about how part of being a parent for them is to teach their children how to act around the police so they don't get killed. What's been the reality for that population all along is becoming the case for all of us. I saw a meme on Facebook:
How do you talk to the police?
You don't.
The public continues to lose trust in our law enforcement officers. This is another disgraceful event that should have the new police chief and the Mayor loudly and publicly condemning. What has our society come to that we kill obviously mentally disturbed people who do not pose a deadly threat to officers? Did the officers just feel inpatient that this guy was taking up too much of their time? Or did they feel "entitled" to kill a mentally "defective" person? I suspect the latter in a society where the voices of hard right wing proponents for "stand your ground" laws and unfettered personal gun ownership drown out the cries for more mental health and other benefits for the most needy casualties of capitalism's avarice.
Jim,
I was witness to this culture for over 11 years of my nearly 27 years of tenure with the City. I often sat in my office with officers and deputy chiefs and listened to them laugh and trade stories about torture and killings. Comments about the "drop gun" being the most important piece of equipment in the squad car would elicit knowing winks and nods, along with laughs. Before I retired, I tried to talk to Councilors I thought I could trust. It was like talking to a brick wall. I emailed Mayor Berry offering to share in confidence
my experiences and to talk about the internal "culture" of APD. No response. People who have commented here that Berry is a coward are, in my opinion, correct. The new Chief, in my opinion, is already a disgrace from the way he's handled this. I was astonished that the video was released and also astonished that the Journal would post an unedited version, documenting clearly the incompetence and arrogance that accompanied this murder. There simply is no other word for it. I have seen real dead bodies, from accidents in the mountains, drownings, shootings. most people haven't. As horrible as it is, I wish everyone in the city would have to see the video. city Council should show it on chambers. If there is a relative that brings charges and a competent lawyer takes the case, this could. I believe, result in a settlement that could exceed the resources of risk management. If that were to happen, we could
probably guess where the financial onus would land in the City's budget. Where will the turning point come? If these officers walk, as others have regularly done, then what is the hope for this city? They already act on a daily basis as if they are beyond the reach of the law. Someone needs to do hard time here, if anything is to turn around. What is to be done? I suspect you should not post this on your blog. But since we worked together, I think you can probably figure out who I am and can easily track me down if you want to talk about this. Sorry to be mysterious, but I have long feared APD retaliation for myself or my family.
Jim
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