Kenneth Walker sued after his girlfriend was killed in the house where he was living in, and the city settled two lawsuits against the city
It’s Louisville, Kentucky. The man who shot at police after they burst into the house where his girlfriend was killed has settled two lawsuits against the city.
Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers on March 13, 2020, as they executed a search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation in the early morning hours.
Walker and Taylor were settled in bed for the night when they were roused by banging on her apartment door around midnight on March 13, 2020. Police were outside with a drug warrant, and they used a battering ram to knock down the door. Walker fired a single shot from a handgun, striking Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg. Mattingly and two other officers then opened fire, killing Taylor.
Walker was initially accused of attempted murder of a police officer, but the charges were dropped in the spring of 2020, when protests and coverage of the Taylor case became more widely known.
The city agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits filed by Kenneth Walker in federal and state court, one of his attorneys, Steve Romines, said in a statement. He added that Taylor’s death “will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life.”
“He’s going to live with the effects of being placed in harm’s way, being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and the unimaginable and horrible death of Breonna Taylor,” Romines said.
SCORPION: Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods and the Memphis Police beating that killed Tyre Nichols
The issue of “no-knock” warrants, which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence, became a topic of discussion after the case.
Earlier this year, U.S. Justice Department prosecutors charged three Louisville officers with a conspiracy to falsify the Taylor warrant. Kelly Goodling admitted to helping create a false link between Taylor and the wanted drug dealer.
Walker wrote that a police officer had taken some responsibility for the death of his girlfriend, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.
“Knowing all the problems that this failed raid would create, the Louisville police tried to use me as a scapegoat to deflect blame,” he wrote. It nearly worked.
Walker’s attorneys said Monday that part of the settlement he received would be used to set up a scholarship fund for law school students interested in practicing civil rights law. Another portion will be contributed to the Center for Innovations in Community Safety, a police and community reform Center at Georgetown Law School.
As protesters gathered across US cities over the weekend following the Memphis police beating that led to the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, officials have said the investigation into the incident will continue amid questions over whether there could be additional charges.
The January 7 encounter has had a relatively quick effect. The Memphis police unit they were a part of was dismantled after five officers were charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of Nichols.
As the investigation continues, Nichols’ family attorney Ben Crump said he thinks there will be additional fallout, but “whether that’s going to lead to criminal charges, we have to see.”
Steve Mulroy, who is the District Attorney in the county, said he cannot comment on whether there will be additional charges brought or not.
Officials knew releasing the video without charges for the officers could be “incendiary,” Mulroy said. “The best solution was to expedite the investigation and to expedite the consideration of charges so that the charges could come first and then the release of the video,” he added.
The five former officers are members of a recently formed unit that deals with rising crime in the city. Launched in 2021, the SCORPION unit – Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – was heralded as a direct response to the city’s worst crime, targeting homicides, robberies, assaults and other felonies.
He was left on the floor in handcuffs and was not taken to the hospital until 23 minutes had passed. He died three days after being hospitalized.
The officers failed their oath, according to CNN’s Crump. “They failed their oath to protect and serve. Look at that video: Was anybody trying to protect and serve Tyre Nichols?”
Protesters carried signs with the name of a young black man, who the country heard calling for his mother as he was kicked, beat and pepper- sprayed, during marches throughout many cities, including New York City, Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles.
The family of Nichols remembered him as a good son and father who enjoyed skateboarding, photography and sunsets. They remembered his happy demeanor and mourned the moments they won’t have again.
The Memphis Police Department must take proactive steps in the healing process of all the people that have been adversely impacted by the actions of a few. The Memphis Police Department remains committed to serving our community and taking every measure possible to rebuild the trust that has been negatively affected by the death of Mr. Tyre Nichols.”
This was part of the culture of the SCORPION unit, and we saw that in the video. They were ordered to dismantle immediately before we see anything like this again.
“There is a reckoning coming for the police department and for the leadership,” Memphis City Council member Frank Colvett said. She will have to answer not only to the council but also to the citizens of the world.
“We just have to change the culture … We have to hold people accountable. We have to let the legacy of Mr. Nichols be that there is going to be police reform not only here in Memphis but in this country.”
The city of Memphis was peaceful and direct when it came to protesting, and Easter-Thomas thinks it is because they believe in the system and hope for the best.
Memphis Police Officers were Indicted for Second-Degree Crime and Kidnapping. A Congressional Black Caucus Message on the Memphis Police Reform Act
And on Thursday, the officers – all of them also Black – were charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping amid mounting public pressure to release footage of the incident.
The attorney for one of the officers indicted, Mills Jr., put out a statement Friday night saying that he didn’t cross lines “that others crossed” during the confrontation. The attorney said that Mills was a victim of the system he worked in.
Two Memphis Fire Department employees were out of work while awaiting the conclusion of an internal investigation. And two deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office have been put on leave pending an investigation.
Crump called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the Democratic-controlled House in 2021 but not the evenly split Senate.
The Congressional Black Caucus is requesting a meeting with President Joe Biden this week to push for negotiations on police reform, caucus chair Steven Horsford wrote in a news release Sunday.
Gloria Sweet-Love, the Tennessee State Conference NAACP President applauded Memphis Police Chief Davis for not waiting more than one year to fire the officers who beat up a young man.
She did not applaud Congress, who she said had failed to craft and pass bills to stop police brutality. You have control of the blood of Black America. Stand up and do something.
The Case for Reconciliation in Memphis, Tennessee: Two Years After Michael Brown and Jayson Taylor were killed by an unarmed, officer-involved officer
On the state level, two Democratic state lawmakers in Tennessee said Saturday that they intend to file police reform legislation ahead of the Tennessee general assembly’s Tuesday filing deadline. The bills would address the issues of mental health care for law enforcement officers, hiring, training, discipline practices, and other topics.
While Democrats hold the minority with 24 representatives compared to the Republican majority of 99 representatives, Rep. Joe Towns Jr. said this legislation is not partisan and should pass on both sides of the legislature.
“You would be hard-pressed to look at this footage (of Tyre Nichols) and see what happened to that young man, OK, and not want to do something. If a dog in this county was beaten like that, what the hell would happen?” Towns said.
Five former officers have been indicted on charges of second degree murder and kidnapping. One day later, officials released police body camera and street surveillance footage of the deadly encounter after a January 7 traffic stop.
The man who helped restore order in Ferguson after the fatal cop shooting of Michael Brown said they had learned from their mistakes.
Two years ago, we would not have seen the things we are seeing now.
An internal report prepared by the Louisville Metro Police Department suggested that officers violated department rules when they opened fire during the raid that led to Taylor’s death.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis told CNN that on hearing that initial account she thought it was “just a strange summary of what occurred on a traffic stop.” Once she viewed video of what actually happened, she was “outraged,” she said.
Still, law enforcement and legal analysts are now pointing to Memphis’ actions as a new example of how to maintain trust in the community after fatal police encounters.
“We’re in a new era of accountability,” said CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, noting the proliferation of police body cameras and cell phone and surveillance video that capture violence by officers. The more these instances are caught on camera the more the public is angry and demands for accountability.
Memphis Police Chief Benjamin Crump vowed immediate action against the officers responsible for Nichols’ autopsy and the shooting of a Memphis officer
The preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for Nichols’ family said he suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” family attorney Benjamin Crump said this week.
The Chief vowed immediate and appropriate action after he noted the seriousness of the officers conduct during the stop. She said that the department served notice to the officers involved.
Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were terminated for failing in their “excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” the department said in a statement.
Areva Martin, an attorney and legal affairs commentator, said that the police department learns something from other high-profile cases when district attorneys are not transparent.
“They did the right thing in this case by convening a grand jury, investigating the case quickly, and then charging these officers, bringing them into custody.”
Crump, in a news conference Friday, called Memphis’ rapid criminal charges – compared to other cities that have waited months or years in brutality cases – a “blueprint” for police departments, prosecutors and political leaders in future cases.
In the case of Walter Scott, who was shot and killed in the back by officers after they pulled him over for a broken brake light, the charges were swift.
Former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager was arrested days after the shooting and indicted on a murder charge two months later. The state murder trial of the former officer ended in a mis conviction, but he pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation for acting under the color of law. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
When Law Enforcement Becomes More Open, It’s More Easy to Get Around The Media, And Its Implications For The Memphis Families
“The last thing you want to do is take a high tension event and then add that thing that’s going to increase tension … on a Friday night knowing that people don’t have to be at work in the morning and they have the whole weekend ahead of them,” said CNN law enforcement analyst John Miller.
But, Miller said, the delay allowed authorities to show the public “the wheels of justice are turning and turning relatively quickly.” The extra time allowed officials to speak to the faith community in Memphis, the voice of the family and the family’s lawyers, and the key community contacts in calling for calm.
Police departments across the country – including in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Nashville and New York – said they were either monitoring events or already had plans in place in case of protests.
“We’ve watched so many of these cases over the last several years,” Martin said. Law enforcement authorities often come forward when they are transparent and give information to the community, which can lead to a peaceful response.
Mostly peaceful protesters in Memphis took to Interstate 55 Friday night after the videos went online, blocking both lanes of the highway’s bridge connecting the western Tennessee city to Arkansas. There were no arrests.
Paramedics arrived minutes after the officers left, but Nichols was left on the pavement without help before an ambulance showed up.
What Memphis PD did to prevent the tragedy of Tyre Nichols? Dorsey’s perspective on the incident and ongoing investigation
The footage stunned hardened law enforcement experts. The outrage was expressed by officials of all stripes, including President joe Biden, who said it was yet another painful reminder of fear and trauma for Black and Brown Americans.
Cheryl Dorsey, a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department, said the footage of Nichols’ fatal encounter has left many unanswered questions about what Memphis PD did to prevent the tragedy.
She told CNN Saturday that it was preventable. The officers who are young on the job do what they do on a regular basis. This was something that they are used to doing.
While watching the video, Jones said that despite the positive shift in the handling of brutality cases, much more needs to be done.
“We are looking at everybody who had any kind of involvement in this incident,” from the officers and paramedics on scene to those who filed the paperwork, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said Monday.
Prosecutors moved “extraordinarily quick” with charges against the five officers “primarily responsible for the death of Tyre Nichols,” the district attorney said.
Investigation of Tyre Nichols, the Second Officer, a Memphis City Council Sergeant, and Chief Cerezel Mills, on January 8
“I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it. I think there is more to this, as we go into the trial, said Memphis City Council member Jeff Warren. “I don’t think we’re on top of this yet.”
“We need to make sure that we go through our police department and see where we were weak, what happened with our procedures, what happened with our oversight,” Warren said.
On Monday, police said a sixth and a seventh officer were placed on leave with the other five on January 8 – and those two officers still are subjects of an internal investigation.
The Memphis Police Department stated in a news release that officer’s actions and inactions are being investigated.
That body-cam video does not show Hemphill at the second site, where the county’s district attorney has said Nichols was beaten and suffered his serious injuries.
The fire personnel terminated over their response to the encounter are emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge and fire Lt. Michelle Whitaker, the fire department said Monday.
According to the fire department, the EMTs arrived on the scene based on information they were told and failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols.
Two of the fired police officers are represented by attorneys. William had said that no one wanted to see Tyre Nichols die.
Ballin said that some of the questions still need to be focused on the individual actions of Mills, and on whether his actions crossed the line that other officers had crossed during the incident.
Some have praised the swift actions taken by Chief Cerelyn Davis, but she also created the now-deactivated SCORPION police unit and is the one who charged the officers in the case.
“They either failed by using excessive force; they failed him by severely beating him; they failed him by not intervening; they failed him by not rendering aid,” the attorney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/tyre-nichols-investigation-tuesday/index.html
The Paulson-Nichols Family: a Press Release on the Memphis Police Department’s 2019 Forgery Detection of a Robust, Decelerating Officer
The attorney said the family is still trying to comprehend the broad scope of the investigation while also dealing with the loss of a loved one.
The Nichols family is expected to hold a press conference Tuesday night at Memphis’ Mason Temple Church of God in Christ headquarters, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous last speech the day before he was assassinated in that city, according to a press release from their attorney Ben Crump.
Law enforcement has been facing increased scrutiny since the video of Memphis police officers brutally beating a man was released.
Headley, the Georgetown professor, said police have a number of reasons for issuing vague statements early on in use-of-force investigations, including the possibility that the authors of the statements may not have all the facts.
The Minneapolis Police Department said officers responded to a forgery on May 25, 2020 and arrested a suspect. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress,” a press release read. Officers called for an ambulance.
George Floyd was the man who was captured on video as a former police officer knelt on his neck and begged him to stop breathing. Floyd died that day.
But video shot by a bystander showed former NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner in a chokehold until he went unconscious. It was ruled a Homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York City.
The Alameda County Sheriffs Office initially said that a drug overdose occurred at the Santa Rita Jail, which is in Dublin, Calif. But as the Guardian reported, body-camera footage released later showed that officers put Armstrong in a restraining jacket and a spit mask before he became unresponsive. An autopsy shows that the man died from strangulation.
John Elder was the Minneapolis Police Department’s public information director in 2020 and wrote an initial statement about Floyd’s death. He told the Los Angeles Times that he got his information from sergeants and computer-aided dispatch, and that he hadn’t seen any video footage of the encounter before writing the press release.
“This had literally zero intent to deceive or be dishonest or disingenuous. Elder told the newspaper that the statement would have been different had they known what they saw on the video.
The conflict comes when there are discrepancies in the report or statements put out that do not match the evidence that comes out. She said that the language that is used tries to abdicate responsibility.
She said she worked for one agency that brought in community leaders to explain an incident before talking to the media. Departments can also acknowledge if they are still looking into what happened, she said, including if they haven’t reviewed any video evidence yet.
Police said there had been a confrontation between officers and a driver suspected of reckless driving. The suspect ran from the scene and officers trying to take him into custody had a confrontation with him, according to the statement.
The situation is very problematic, and it goes back to what we saw with the Derek Chauvin case. This is not the first time we have a huge gap between what happened in the police report and what happened later. This issue of believing police reports on their face as they are immediately released is something that we need to reconsider.”
According to court documents, the Troopers said the death was caused by a crash that caused a broken sternum and a torn aorta and they used force because they wanted to be safe.
The videos from police body camera and dash camera show a different version of what happened near the city of Monroe. The footage, obtained by the Associated Press in 2021, shows officers after the crash kicking, tasing and restraining Greene.
Hollingsworth died in a car crash. In December 2022, five law enforcement officers involved in the arrest were indicted on state charges ranging from negligent homicide to malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice.
Cell phone video of Floyd being pinned to the floor by a former Minneapolis cop was posted on the internet and was heard by people around the world.
A bystander testified during Chauvin’s trial. I heard George Floyd say that he couldn’t breathe. Please. Get off me. She testified that she couldn’t breathe. “He cried for his mom… It seemed like he knew — seemed like he knew it was over for him.”
A high school student, off-duty firefighter, and an employee at the Speedway captured video of the encounter.
An investigation into the shooting of a Chicago police officer following the fatal shooting of Floyd, a former girlfriend of Slager, the wrong person
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. His sentencing is set for June 25.
Taylor was struck by bullets six times after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot at officers serving a warrant. Walker later said he believed the officers to be intruders.
Thirty-two shots were taken by the officers, when the circumstances made it impossible for them to take a single shot. This is how the wrong person was shot and killed.”
One of the officers at the scene, Brett Hankison, is expected to stand trial in 2022 on charges of wanton endangerment for allegedly firing into an adjacent occupied apartment, according to the state attorney general. Hankison, who was fired in June 2020, pleaded not guilty.
Cellphone video taken by a bystander was used to capture the chase between Slager and Scott. Prosecutors say not only did that video show Slager firing at Scott’s back from 17 feet away, but that it showed him dropping his Taser by Scott’s body.
In the aftermath of Laquan Mcdonald’s death, 11 Chicago police officers were accused of false statements to exaggerate the threat he posed. And a former lieutenant who led the shooting investigation allegedly destroyed handwritten notes from witness interviews, the investigative report from Inspector General Joseph Ferguson revealed in 2019.
McDonald was shot six seconds after getting out of his car, after police said he ignored verbal commands to drop the knife that he was carrying. He shot McDonald 16 times.
The results were immediate when the judge ordered the release of dashboard police camera footage from the shooting. McDonald walked away from officers rather than charging at them.