moniquill:

tal9000:

infamousnfamous:

genderbitch:

questionall:

A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

“Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.

The Houston Chronicle identified the man as Brian Claunch.

Police had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.

The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.

“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper.

Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.

Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.

On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.

“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.”

These police shootings of unarmed and disabled individuals are getting entirely out of hand.  Since when do you shoot first and ask questions later?  It was a group home for the disabled - did he really think they would have guns?  I’ve worked for group homes and there are no guns allowed - ever.  Something is seriously wrong with some of the officers in this country and it needs to be remedied before more people die.

What the goddamn fuck

What I don’t get is how an officer thought a guy in a wheelchair could stab him…I’m pretty sure the wheels and seat would get in the way before get got in stabbing range. Or here’s a bright idea: go up or down a stairstep. Problem solved, and no one had to die.

Yeah. Also it would seem like stabbing someone in a wheelchair with a pen would be fairly difficult even if the reach issue were solved?

Also? Even if the person is completely successful in stabbing you with a pen - even if they manage to stab through your clothes and wound you - Even if that object had been an exacto knife or a letter opener and could have made a decent wound? It is not a lethal weapon and use of lethal force was completely unreasonable.

infamousnfamous:

genderbitch:

questionall:

A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came “within inches to a foot” of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.

“Fearing for his partner’s safety and his own safety, he discharged his weapon,” Silva told The Associated Press.

The Houston Chronicle identified the man as Brian Claunch.

Police had been called to the home after a caretaker there called and reported that the man in wheelchair was causing a disturbance.

The owner of the group home, John Garcia, told the Houston Chronicle that the man had a history of mental illness and had been living at the house about 18 months. Garcia said the man had told him that he lost a leg above the knee and all of one arm when he was hit by a train.

“He sometimes would go off a bit, but you just ignore it,” Garcia told the newspaper.

Silva identified the officer as Matthew Jacob Marin, a five-year veteran of the department. He was immediately placed on three-day administrative leave, which is standard in all shootings involving officers.

Houston police records indicate that Marin also fatally shot a suspect in 2009. Investigators at the time said Marin came upon a man stabbing his neighbor to death at an apartment complex and opened fired when the suspect refused to drop the knife.

On Saturday, Marin and his partner arrived at the group home around 2:30 a.m. Silva said there were several people at the house at the time. The caretaker who called police waited on the porch while the officers went inside, she said.

“It was close quarters in the area of the house,” Silva said. “The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out.”

These police shootings of unarmed and disabled individuals are getting entirely out of hand.  Since when do you shoot first and ask questions later?  It was a group home for the disabled - did he really think they would have guns?  I’ve worked for group homes and there are no guns allowed - ever.  Something is seriously wrong with some of the officers in this country and it needs to be remedied before more people die.

What the goddamn fuck

What I don’t get is how an officer thought a guy in a wheelchair could stab him…I’m pretty sure the wheels and seat would get in the way before get got in stabbing range. Or here’s a bright idea: go up or down a stairstep. Problem solved, and no one had to die.

Yeah. Also it would seem like stabbing someone in a wheelchair with a pen would be fairly difficult even if the reach issue were solved?

defenselesstenderness:

Workers arrested at South Africa’s Marikana mine have been charged in court with the murder of 34 of their colleagues shot by police.

The 270 workers would be tried under the “common purpose” doctrine because they were in the crowd which confronted police on 16 August, an official said.

Police opened fire, killing 34 miners and sparking a national outcry.

…

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Frank Lesenyego told the BBC the 270 workers would all face murder charges - including those who were unarmed or were at the back of the crowd.

“This is under common law, where people are charged with common purpose in a situation where there are suspects with guns or any weapons and they confront or attack the police and a shooting takes place and there are fatalities,” he said.

South African lawyer Jay Surju told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that the “common purpose” doctrine was used by the former white minority regime against activists fighting for racial equality in South Africa.

“This is a very outdated and infamous doctrine,” he said.

“It was discredited during the time of apartheid.”

The decision has also been condemned as “a flagrant abuse of of the criminal justice system” by constitutional lawyer Pierre de Vos.

The best known case was that of the “Upington 14”, who were sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of a policeman in 1985.

The trial judge convicted the 14 activists, even though he acknowledged that they did not carry out the killing.

Anti-apartheid activists around the world protested against the ruling, which was overturned on appeal.

READ MORE…

(via defenselesstenderness-deactivat)

defenselesstenderness:

Frank Lesenyego, the NPA’s regional spokesman, yesterday confirmed that the miners had been charged with murder and not public violence as previously stated.

Asked to clarify the confusion - after police commissioner Riah Phiyega had earlier confirmed that the miners died after police shot at them with live ammunition - Lesenyego said: “It’s technical but, in legal [terms], when people attack or confront [the police] and a shooting takes place which results in fatalities … suspects arrested, irrespective of whether they shot police members or the police shot them, are charged with murder.”

On August 16, police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in North West.

On the same day, the 259 workers were arrested for public violence. Another 78 were admitted to hospital.

READ MORE…

I am not familiar with South African law, but if any of you have any further information regarding the viability of these charges, I’d be interested in anything you can share.

(via defenselesstenderness-deactivat)