Notes on police violence in the US

Delaware police shoot wheelchair-bound man a dozen times

By Ed Hightower

26 September 2015

Delaware police shoot wheelchair-bound man a dozen times

Police in Wilmington, Delaware shot and killed 28-year-old Jeremy McDole, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, on Wednesday afternoon. Officers said they were responding to a call about a man who was injured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Video of the incident shows McDole in his wheelchair, stopped near the curb of a street. One officer points what appears to be a shotgun at him. While it is unclear in the video if the officer fired a round from the shotgun, there is a loud boom, and McDole seems to have been struck by something. The officer then “pumps” another round into the shotgun, as fellow officers surround McDole.

As police come within a few feet of McDole and yell at him to “show me your hands” and “drop the gun,” McDole appears to slowly reach into his front pants pocket and remove it before police fire about a dozen rounds at him.

McDole, who was paralyzed from the waist down, collapses over the left side of his chair and falls to the street. At no point in the video does McDole ever point a gun at officers, nor does he issue a threat of any kind. His mother was a witness to the shooting and insists that he had no gun.

Report whitewashes police killing of Antonio Zambrano-Montes in Pasco, Washington

Also on Wednesday the Police Policy Studies Council, a private agency tasked with reviewing police conduct, whitewashed the actions of Pasco, Washington officers who shot and killed Mexican national Antonio Zambrano-Montes on February 10. The Zambrano-Montes incident was likewise captured on cell phone video. While he was acting erratically, Zambrano-Montes posed no threat to officers or anyone else and was running away when he was shot.

Investigators found that officers fired 17 rounds at Zambrano-Montes, five of which struck him. Officers Adam Wright and Adrian Alaniz will be allowed to return to work after a period of suspension.

The Police Policy Studies Council report claimed, absurdly, that the officers acted calmly as long as they were able to, that non-lethal force was deployed with no obvious physical effect, and that deadly force was used consistent with policies in the Pasco police department policy manual.

Federal investigators are also looking into the killing to determine if police violated federal law, while the state of Washington is reviewing the local prosecutor’s decision not to charge the officers involved.

“It is unfortunate the PPD has endorsed a policy that permits their officers to gun down unarmed individuals instead of subduing them with non-lethal force,” attorney George Trejo Jr., who represents Zambrano-Montes’ wife and two daughters in a lawsuit against the city, said in a statement.

Video shows Michigan man dying in jail

Surveillance footage from Macomb County jail shows 32-year-old David Stojcevski dying on the 17th day of a 30 day jail sentence arising from failure to pay a $772 reckless driving traffic citation.

Stojcevski was denied treatment for drug withdrawal, including his prescription for methadone. As withdrawal symptoms worsened, he stopped eating and experienced hallucinations. He lost 50 pounds in 17 days. He spent the last 48 hours of his life writhing on a prison floor, ultimately gasping for breath as his body shut down.

Stojcevski’s family filed a lawsuit against guards and the private company that provides health care services to the jail.

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