POLICE BRUTALITY CASES: WALTER SCOTT MURDER & MORE

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, funny is subjective, I guess.

Many police departments have already elected to adopt restrictive policies as to vehicle pursuits and moving vehicle shootings to minimize unnecessary deaths and injuries. It's not like gun free zones at all -- it's simply a matter of risk management and good decision making with an emphasis on public safety.

[F.U.]

It all depends on what side of the fence you stand on when it comes to both topics.
Me, gun fee zones = stupid. Not chasing a speeding criminal with nothing to lose, through traffic = Smart.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

From what I have seen its generally not the US Marshals that serve warrants for minor offences or parking violations. I wonder if the marshals knew the kid was in the truck?

[sally]

I hope they didn't. But if they were shooting from the side they may have and that's completely fucked up.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

It all depends on what side of the fence you stand on when it comes to both topics.
Me, gun fee zones = stupid. Not chasing a speeding criminal with nothing to lose, through traffic = Smart.

I agree, sometimes they have to run the bastards down as they are a clear and present danger to the public. Then again as we have seen, a policy to not chase gives the green light to every asshole out there to run, increasing the risks to the public even further. Hard to balance.
Full disclosure, I have run from the po po several times for (speeding) and always gotten away with it, but never when there was any danger to public or myself.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

I hope they didn't. But if they were shooting from the side they may have and that's completely fucked up.

Yep

[HairOfTheDog]

The marshals who chased and shot Chris Few and his son are not federal marshals, they are city marshals.

City marshals are typically appointed by the mayor to serve all types of warrants, evictions, collect fees, etc... They carry firearms and have police powers.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Ahh, Thanks

[HairOfTheDog]

Here's the latest update on the investigation into the shooting death of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis by city marshals.



--His father, Chris Few, was critically wounded but is still alive in the hospital. Investigators have confirmed that he wasn't carrying a gun, nor was there a gun in his vehicle.

--Investigators haven’t found the warrant Marksville city marshals said they were serving when Chris Few sped away with his son Jeremy Mardis in the car Tuesday night, Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, said at a news conference today.

--Neither the city’s clerk of court or the Avoyelles Parish District Attorney's Office reported any pending warrants on Few, according to KATC-TV.

--The state police have contacted the four marshals — three moonlighting Marksville police officers and one a marshal from nearby Alexandria — to see if they’ll answer investigators’ questions, Edmonson said.

--The state police are reviewing video footage they have of the fatal shooting, Edmonson noted. “We have time on our hands right now because we want to make sure we get it right,” he said. “We want to find out what precipitated that pursuit.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...-1.2424300

[Duchess]

--Investigators haven’t found the warrant Marksville city marshals said they were serving when Chris Few sped away with his son Jeremy Mardis in the car Tuesday night, Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, said at a news conference today.

--Neither the city’s clerk of court or the Avoyelles Parish District Attorney's Office reported any pending warrants on Few, according to KATC-TV.

Well now. That's interesting. Wouldn't it stand to reason that it would have been one of the first things the cops would have come forward with in their effort to justify this shooting?

[HairOfTheDog]

It's interesting (and concerning) to me too Duchess.

That warrant should be easy as pie to pull up in the database or get from the marshals, if it exists and they're cooperating.

Anyway, I'm very glad to hear that there's video of the shooting. I hope it's clear footage.

I also hope Chris Few lives and is not brain-damaged so his account can be told too.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

uh oh

[HairOfTheDog]

More on the incident surrounding the shooting death of Jeremy Mardis

Officials (still) have not yet said what the supposed warrant the marshals were serving Few with was for. It’s also not yet known (or been revealed?) when the incident started.

According to the Acadiana Advocate, Few has several traffic violations and a recent DWI conviction, but there were no outstanding warrants or ongoing criminal cases in Marksville city court or the area district court. Police and the district attorney said they were not aware of any outstanding warrants for his arrest.

The shooting happened on Martin Luther King Drive in Marksville, a city of 5,700 in Avoyelles Parish. Avoyelles Today initially reported the marshals cornered the suspect in his vehicle. Few then put his vehicle in reverse and struck the police vehicle, the news site reported. The officers exited their vehicle and fired their duty pistols through the driver’s side window.

However, State Police Colonel Michael Edmonson, the head of the department, denied that Few had put the vehicle in reverse, saying “no, I didn’t say that. That didn’t come from me."

Few's fiancee, Megan Dixon, told The Guardian she saw the two marshals’ black and white cars approaching Few’s vehicle from behind as he pulled away from a bar where they had been talking. She said she saw Few point toward his son, indicating he was in the car and didn’t know what to do. Few was afraid of the marshals because he had a prior personal conflict with one of them, she told The Guardian.

Chris Few, the boy’s father, was also shot by police. He was airlifted to the hospital and is in critical condition, state police say. According to the Alexandria Town Talk, Few is on a respirator and does not know his son died.

Ref: http://heavy.com/news/2015/11/jeremy-mar...s-warrant/

[HairOfTheDog]

UPDATE: Two Officers Arrested for Murder of 6-Year-Old Jeremy Mardis and Attempted Murder of Chris Few, Louisiana


^ Col. Mike Edmonson, in an emotional late-night press conference on Friday, said of the body camera footage that was recovered from the officers, "It is the most disturbing thing I've seen, and I will leave it at that."

Six-year-old Jeremy Mardis was properly seat-belted in the passenger seat when he was shot and killed and his father, Chris Few, was critically wounded when officers opened fire on Tuesday night in the town of Marksville. Edmonson said many bullets were fired into the vehicle, the occupants of which were unarmed.


^ Police Officers Norris Greenhouse Jr. and Derrick Stafford are being booked on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the shooting. Both were working secondary jobs in Marksville as marshals when the shooting happened, Edmonson said.

Edmonson implored the officers to cooperate with the investigation. "I think the longer it takes for these officers to come forward and give us information, it's more concerning," Edmonson told CBS News Friday morning. "Come forward and tell us what happened."

State police are combing through forensics evidence, 911 calls, conducting interviews and reviewing the body camera footage, Edmonson said, as the investigation continues.

Two other officers were involved in the incident. When Edmonson was asked whether he anticipated any more arrests, he said: "We'll see where it takes us."

It's still unclear what led police to pursue Few and what triggered the shooting. There is still no sign of the warrant that the officers initially claimed to be serving.

The officers' initial claims that Few put his car in reverse in the direction of the marshals/officers is in doubt. The officers' initial claim that they started shooting at the dead-end is in doubt; it's suspected they were shooting into the car during the short pursuit.

Refs:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...-1.2426595
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-louisiana-...lds-death/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...c-boy.html

[HairOfTheDog]

^ This story is really concerning and gaining a lot of national attention now.

The off-duty officers who were working as city marshals worked for the town's elected marshal, who is a bus driver with no law enforcement background or training. He has been the marshal for 12 years.

Recently, the mayor contacted the Attorney General because the elected marshal had started overstepping his bounds and sending warrant/subpoena-serving marshals in his unit out in police vehicles to patrol (which is the job of the police department, not the marshals).

One of the officers arrested for murder and attempted murder in the case was indicted on two counts of aggravated rape in October, 2011. Lt. Derrick Stafford was indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury on two counts of aggravated rape, reports KATC - the station says it is waiting for records to see exactly how it was resolved.

The station also reported he has five pending civil lawsuits involving him in Avoyelles Parish and fellow officer Norris Greenhouse Jr. was also named in several of the suits.

For the head of the Louisiana State place to call the body cam footage of the pursuit/shooting of Chris Few and his son the "most disturbing thing he's seen", it's gotta be very bad.

More details: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...c-boy.html

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Holy shit. Looks like these assholes went out there on some kind of unsanctioned mission. Also sounds like this asshole town marshal is some kind of dixie wannabe mafia.
I hope they hang the lot of them

[HairOfTheDog]

Holy shit. Looks like these assholes went out there on some kind of unsanctioned mission. Also sounds like this asshole town marshal is some kind of dixie wannabe mafia.
I hope they hang the lot of them

I understand the two arrested marshals still aren't cooperating. They are being held on $1 million each. If they bail out, they will be on house arrest with monitors.

Footage from a police body camera appears to show that the father of the 6-year-old autistic boy had his hands in the air before city marshals opened fire, severely wounding the motorist and killing the boy, CBS News has learned from a law enforcement source.

The case is being handled by the State District Attorney now. The local District Attorney Charles A. Riddle recused himself from the case on Monday because the assistant district attorney is defendant marshal Greenhouse's father, according to a motion of recusal from his office. Greenhouse was a full time marshal for nearby Alexandria; he was not a member of the police force. The other two officers at the scene have been put on administrative leave but haven't been charged. I understand it was one of them who was wearing the body cam.


Today is ^ Jeremy's funeral. He is the youngest person killed by police this year. His father is unable to attend as he is still hospitalized in serious condition. It's not clear whether Chris Few is aware that his son is dead.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bond...ar-n460021
http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Comp...te-560.jpg

[Duchess]

Footage from a police body camera appears to show that the father of the 6-year-old autistic boy had his hands in the air before city marshals opened fire, severely wounding the motorist and killing the boy, CBS News has learned from a law enforcement source.

*gasp* That's even worse than I had imagined.

[HairOfTheDog]

Footage from a police body camera appears to show that the father of the 6-year-old autistic boy had his hands in the air before city marshals opened fire, severely wounding the motorist and killing the boy, CBS News has learned from a law enforcement source.

*gasp* That's even worse than I had imagined.

If it's true, it's gonna make it very difficult for the shooting officers to convince a jury that they were in fear for their lives when they reportedly shot 18 times into the driver's side window.

Col. Edmundson said yesterday that there won't be any more press conferences until there is breaking news to announce. He's asking for members of the public to come forward with anything they know about the officers involved. I understand at yesterday's hearing the judge issued a gag order to those involved in the case.

I'm so glad that one of the Marksville officers on the scene was wearing a body cam. Had he not been, a false narrative would have been much easier to sell.

[Duchess]

I'd love to see the video. I want to see if it's true that the father's arms were raised in surrender or I want someone to confirm that. I run the risk of going off half cocked otherwise. I have a lot to say about the shooters!