Louisville, KY-One of the three officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor on March 13 is being fired, mayor Greg Fischer announced Friday morning.
In a statement made by the mayor, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Rob Schroeder is initiating termination procedures against Officer Brett Hankison.
“Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I very much would like to see changed, both the Chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment, or even the timing of this decision,” the statement said.
Hankison is one of three officers that has been on administrative reassignments during the investigation of Taylor’s death. Taylor, 26, was killed during a raid at her Louisville home on March 13.
Taylor’s boyfriend thought the officers were intruders and fired a shot as they entered. Taylor was shot eight times by officers.
Hankison is accused by the department's interim chief, Robert Schroeder, of "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment, creating a substantial danger of death and serious injury.
"I find your conduct a shock to the conscience," Schroeder wrote in a Friday letter to Hankison laying out the charges against him. "I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion."
“The result of your action seriously impedes the Department's goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department," he added. "Your conduct demands your termination."
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San Antonio-Eight people were shot outside of a San Antonio bar Friday night, and police are on the hunt for the shooter.
The inside happened around 11:30 p.m., in the parking lot of a Rebar, a bar located in the 8000 block of Broadway.
According to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, “They are all in stable condition, the most serious was someone was hit in the back.” McManus said six of the victims self-transported to hospitals. Two people were grazed and refused treatment.
Police say a group of five people, two males and three females were denied entry into a San Antonio bar because they were intoxicated.
The shooter said to the staff, “Don’t you know who I am? I’m a UFC fighter from California. After being denied entry, McManus said he, “walked back to his car, pulled out a long rifle and walked back across the street and opened fire.”
During a press conference, McManus said the victims include five females and three males. The identity of the victims has not been made public.
If anyone has any information, they are urged to call police.
Fresno, CA-The man accused of shooting a deputy and killing a man in Paso Robles early Wednesday morning has been identified.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office says they are now searching for 26-year-old Mason Lira for opening fire at the Paso Robles Police Department overnight.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday when the suspect fired at the Paso Robles Police Department building. One deputy was shot and was airlifted to a trauma hospital. He is in serious, but stable condition.
Authorities also confirmed they found a deceased body near the Amtrak station at 8th Street and Pine Street.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson said this was an “unprovoked attack on law enforcement.” He also said the suspect was “laying in ambush” at the police department, and that it was the “act of a coward.”
If anyone knows the whereabouts of Lira, contact the SLO County Sheriff’s Office or the Paso Robles Police Department.
"Live PD" production has been ceased by A&E amid ongoing protests in opposition to police brutality.
The decision was made by A&E and the production company Big Fish Entertainment.
“This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD,” said a statement from A&E obtained by the outlet. “Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”
“Out of respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives, in consultation with the departments we follow, and in consideration for the safety of all involved, we have made the decision not to broadcast ‘Live PD’ this weekend,” A&E said in a statement to Variety.
‘Live PD’ host, Dan Abrams shared on Twitter, "Shocked & beyond disappointed about this," he said. "To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on... More to come..."
The cancelations come amid a period of civil unrest.
Paso Robles- The San Luis County Sheriff and other local agencies are searching for an armed man who fired at the Paso Robles police earlier today.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. when the suspect fired at the Paso Robles Police Department building.
One deputy was shot and was airlifted to a trauma hospital. He is in serious but stable condition.
The shooter is described as a male in his 20s or 30s, dark curly hair, wearing pants and white hoodie. He is armed with a handgun and/or rifle.
Authorities have also confirmed they have found a deceased body near the Amtrak station at 8th Street and Pine Street. They are currently investigating any connection with the active shooter.
A shelter-in-place order has been announced in the city.
Brooklyn, NY-The Brooklyn cop who shoved a woman to the ground during a George Floyd protest is being arrested and charged.
A video went viral of Vincent D’Andraia pushing Dounya Zayer, 20, when she didn’t get out of the street. The incident happened on May 29 near the Barclays Center. Zayer hit her head on the pavement and was hospitalized.
Cellphone video showed him knocking the victim, Dounya Zayer, 20, to the ground and calling her a “bitch” after she asked him why he told her to get out of the street.
D’Andraia works out of the Brownville’s 73 Precinct. He surrendered himself on Tuesday at the 84th Precinct station house.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office plans to charge him with misdemeanor assault and harassment.
He is the first NYPD officer who has been arrested because of the protests.
Officer D’Andraia and another officer involved in a separate incident were suspended without pay last week after investigators concluded they had violated department policies and recommended disciplinary charges. The second officer, who has not been named publicly, was recorded snatching off a man’s mask and pepper-spraying him during a protest on May 30 in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors may charge as many as 40 other officers, law enforcement officials said, as the police, district attorneys, and lawmakers face intense pressure to change a status quo that for decades has largely allowed police officers accused of assault or other violent acts on duty to avoid serious punishment.
Police and prosecutors have said they are investigating several other incidents of police using violence against protesters after they were recorded on video, and a civilian oversight agency that investigates police misconduct said it has received hundreds of complaints since the protests started.
Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association said, “They created the failed strategy for maintaining these demonstrations,” he said. “They sent police officers out to do the job with no support and no clear plan. They should be the ones facing this mob-rule justice.”
Active-duty Air Force Sergeant, Steven Carrillo is accused of killing a California sheriff’s deputy in an ambush-style attack near Santa Cruz.
Carrillo has been arrested for the fatal shooting of Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller of the Santa Cruz county sheriff’s department and wounding two other officers.
The FBI is also investigating if Carrillo has links to the killing of the federal officer who was shot outside the US courthouse in Oakland last week.
Carrillo, 32, was a team leader for the Phoenix Ravens, an elite security force at Travis air force base, 50 miles (81km) north-east of San Francisco, as part of the 60th security forces squadron. The Phoenix Ravens are tasked with protecting aircraft and crews from assaults on airfields “where security is unknown or additional security is needed to counter local threats”, according to the air force.
Santa Cruz Sheriff Jim Hart called Carrillo “a dangerous man intent on bringing harm to police officers.”
"I want to talk a little about Steven Carrillo, I don't even want to say his name again," Hart told reporters at a Monday afternoon news conference. "It's the last time you are going to hear me say it. This guy was active Air Force. He was dangerous and he was an angry man intent on bringing harm to police officers. He murdered Sergeant (Damon) Gutzwiller. He injured another deputy."
"This guy (Carrillo) went into the backyard of a local resident and the local resident confronted him and wanted to know what he was doing on his property," Hart said. "The suspect told him that — actually he had an AR-15 slung, he was carrying an AR. He told the resident he wanted his car keys. The resident very calmly went into his house, obtained a key and came back out and handed it to him."
"As the suspect turned around, the resident tackled him and the AR-15 fell away and the resident took this guy to the ground. At that time the suspect reached into his pocket and pulled out a pipe bomb and tried to ignite a pipe bomb while being held down."
"This resident was able to knock the pipe bomb out of his hand and then the suspect reached into his waistband and pulled out a pistol. There was a wrestling match over the pistol. The resident was able to knock the pistol out of his hand, detain this guy. Multiple other community members from Ben Lomond jumped on this guy and held him until our deputies sheriffs were able to get there and take him into custody."
"It was a remarkable, remarkable, heroic thing that that resident did. He does not want to be named. He doesn't want any recognition ... This guy could have done a lot more damage in our community had that resident not taken the action that he did."
Hart said forensic teams, including the FBI, have found bomb-making equipment, pipe bombs, multiple firearms and a large amount of ammunition at the rural crime scene nestled in the heavily-wooded and rural Santa Cruz mountain community of Ben Lomond.
Carrillo is expected to be charged with first-degree murder.
Baltimore, MD-This week, Baltimore City Council will review the proposed budget.
Protestors have been calling for the city to stop funding the police and putting the money into the community.
On Charles and North Avenue there is a Jack Young campaign billboard that has been spray-painted with the term "Defund BPD".
On Friday, the council will take up police funding -- a proposed $509 million from city coffers, according to the budget book.
The proposed budget is $3.8 Billion. About $100 million less than originally anticipated because of COVID-19.
Hundreds of residents have submitted written letters telling city leaders they want the police department abolished.
Some emails call for defunding the police and to divest interest in the BPD. Many of them also had a request, "Please change your budget to serve the community." They seek to cut dollars from the BPD and instead spend that money on "programs focused on community support and empowerment."
Councilman Eric Costello, the chairman of the city budget panel said, “I've heard interest from some council members about that. I've heard interest from other council members about not making cuts to the police department.”
Costello also cautioned: "I think we need to be very careful when we talk about the funding of police department that is under a consent decree from the federal government because we have a lot of things that we need to do to modernize this police department."
The council is required under the city charter to have a budget with the mayor's signature by June 26 at the latest.
New York-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that changes are coming to the NYPD.
De Blasio said it’s part of a reform plan that he calls a “transformative movement.”
For more than a week, protesters have marched throughout the five boroughs, fighting for justice and equality.
“People did not protest for the sake of protest. They protest to achieve change, and now we must deliver that change,” de Blasio said.
During his daily briefing, he announced several reforms as proposed by a task force on racial inclusion, one of which was shift funding from the police to youth services.
“People from the community, civilians deeply steeped in their communities with the ability to bring the concerns of the community to the highest levels of the NYPD, to bring back answers including the status on disciplinary cases and changes in policing that needs to be done to allow better policing, fairer policing,” de Blasio said.
The initiatives were developed in part by the mayor’s task force on racial inclusion and equity, co-chaired by his wife, Chirlane McCray.
“We must use this moment to transform our pain, to be stronger, and take action,” McCray said.
Regarding vendor enforcement, McCray said, “The vendor and administrative enforcement will be moved out of the NYPD, so that code violations will not require an officer whose presence could escalate an encounter. We are moving forward. We are not waiting for anything or anyone. No one – I say no one – wants to go back to the way things were before.”
De Blasio said, “The details will be worked out in the budget process in the weeks ahead. But I want people to understand that we are committed to shifting resources to ensure that the focus is on our young people.”
De Blasio also announced that the city’s curfew would end immediately due to peaceful protests.
Detectives Union President Paul DiGiacomo released a statement saying: “Our work to keep people safe – at any cost – is being drowned out by calls to defund police departments and arrest officers based on a few seconds of video on social media. There is ZERO BACKING for the men and women in blue by our elected officials. Their decisions are based on appeasing the loudest anti-police protesters instead of fact.”
“Police unions have held back progress in New York City and New York State, period,” de Blasio said.
The mayor calls these reforms “a beginning.”
“I want it to be abundantly clear to all New Yorkers. These are first steps to what will be 18 months of making intense change in this city. The work of this task force is crucial,” de Blasio said. “This is a transformative moment.”
Minneapolis-On Sunday, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council agreed to dismantle the police department.
Councilman, Jeremiah Ellison, said the council is working to disband the police department. Ellison said, “The plan has to start somewhere. We are not going to hit the eject button without a plan so today was the announcement of the formulation of that plan.”
Speaking during a community meeting earlier, council President Lisa Bender called the city’s relationship with the department “toxic” and vowed to “recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe.”
“Our efforts at incremental reform have failed — period,” she said. “Our commitment is to do what’s necessary to keep every single member of our community safe and to tell the truth that Minneapolis police are not doing that.”
Council member, Philippe Cunningham, says the upcoming budget is a great way to start. “We’re not going to tomorrow all of a sudden have nobody for you to call for help. There will be thoughtful and intentional work that’s done, research engagement, learning that happens in a transition that will happen overtime,” Cunningham said.
They said they’ll invest in community-based public safety programs.
Mayor Jacob Frey said, ”I’ll work relentlessly with Chief Arradondo and alongside community toward deep, structural reform and addressing systematic racism in police culture. And we’re ready to dig in and enact more community-led, public safety strategies on behalf of our city. But I do not support abolishing the Minneapolis Police Department.
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