National

Mayor, NAACP Confident in Police Shooting Investigation

Published

9 years ago

January 24, 2015

In this frame grab from an officer’s dashboard camera taken Dec. 30, 2014, and provided by the Bridgeton, N..J. Police Department, police officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley stand near a car they pulled over for running a stop sign in Bridgeton. (AP Photo/Bridgeton Police Department)

Sean Carlin and Geoff Mulvihill, ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) — Elected officials, the state NAACP and local religious leaders said Friday they have confidence in an investigation into a fatal police shooting at a traffic stop that was captured by a patrol car camera.

Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly, police Chief Mark Ott, state NAACP President Richard Smith and community leaders stressed peace in the city while the investigation goes on. They said they don’t want the investigation turned over to the state attorney general, as activists have requested.

The video of the Dec. 30 shooting of Jerame Reid, who had stepped out of a car with his hands raised about shoulder level, was released this week, bringing new scrutiny. The police department made the video public in response to open records requests from two newspapers.

Kelly said local leaders have been in the community answering questions and stressing peace as the investigation unfolds. Kelly wouldn’t comment on the investigation but said he cringes every time he sees the video.

“We would all wish the events of that night did not happen,” Kelly said. “But it has happened. We must heal and go forward as a community. Yes, we can go back and see the mistakes that were made so we can move forward and learn from our mistakes, so we can be better for it.”

Kelly would not elaborate on what those mistakes were.

The video shows Officer Braheme Days proclaiming that a gun was in the glove compartment of a Jaguar that was pulled over for running a stop sign. Upon seeing the weapon, the officer drew his gun and ordered both men in the car — Leroy Tutt, who was the driver, and Reid, the passenger — to show their hands.

Tutt complied, but Reid did not at first, even as Days shouted that he should show his hands and not move. Days reached into the car and took out what appeared to be a silver handgun.

One of the men in the car said he was going to get out and get on the ground. Days said he could not. Still, Reid stepped out of the car as he raised his hands.

Days and his partner quickly fired at least half a dozen shots, killing Reid.

Reid was black; Days is black, and his partner is white.

Reid’s death capped a year in which the killings of other black men by police officers prompted sometimes violent protests and a broader conversation about race in America.

Phone numbers could not be found for either officer, and a union official would not answer a question about whether they had lawyers.

Police Officer Shane Sawyers, president of Police Benevolent Association Local 94, which represents them, said, “We support our guys 100 percent.”

___

Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

5 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.