Uugghh! Louisiana cop fatally shoots 14-year-old ‘four or five times in the back’

[99th_Monkey]

Oh and surprise, surprise ...this 14-year-old boy just "happened" to be black.


Louisiana deputy fatally shot 14-year-old ‘four or five times in the back’: family
DAVID EDWARDS * 24 SEP 2014 * RAW STORY

Louisiana State Police were investigating on Wednesday after a Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a 14-year-old boy.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Evan Harrell said that deputies responded at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday to a 911 call alleging that armed individuals were seen running into an abandoned home in Houma’s Village East neighborhood, The Time-Pacayune reported.

The first deputy to enter the home reportedly shot the boy. Harrell said that a weapon was found “in close proximity” to the dead body. The family of the boy, who was identified him as 14-year-old as Cameron Tillman, said that he was “shot four or five times in the back,” according to WWLTV.

Tillman’s brother, Andre, said that his brother heard a knock at the door of the abandoned home and opened it because he thought it was a joke. “My little brother thought somebody was just clowning, because somebody is always clowning by the door,” Andre Tillman recalled. “He opened [it] and the man just shot him. He didn’t have nothing in his hand.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/louisiana-deputy-fatally-shot-14-year-old-four-or-five-times-in-the-back-family/

[Kalidurga]

1. I would be shocked if it was found that the police planted a weapon at the scene.

Or if Cameron gets Trayvoned. I will be shocked I tell ya.

I am not saying the police did plant a weapon. But, seriously if he opened the door was he really a threat?

[99th_Monkey]

3. OTDWB

Opening The Door While Black <-- apparently this a crime in Louisiana

[Kalidurga]

4. Sounds like it.

When I think about all the hijinxs me and my siblings pulled as children and teenagers around that age I guess we were lucky we didn't get shot. I know someone is going to make an issue of their presumed behavior, but really it looks more like regular kids being kids to me rather than something they were doing that was a danger to the community.

[uppityperson]

66. Well he IS frowning in the photo at the link.

Poor kid and family

[cyberswede]

2. Maybe he was really big

This makes me physically ill.

[morningfog]

7. We'll be told in a couple of weeks that he once stole some bubble gum from a vending machine.

[Jackpine Radical]

30. And he tested positive for pot.

They all do.

[HereSince1628]

5. Any odds on if the cop was 'spanked' as a kid and turned out Ok???

[99th_Monkey]

10. No! .. he was merely "Hannity-ed'

[HereSince1628]

11. Oh...-THAT- is a NORMATIVE response!!!!!!!

[lpbk2713]

6. Every damn day there's a story like this.

And I fear it will get worse before it gets better simply
because there is little or no accountability.

[99th_Monkey]

8. I blame Police Unions

It's such a sad and tawdry irony that police "unions" are just about the ONLY unions that have not been hounded out of existence or marginalized. AND that they wield enormous power at the local level, often seeming to be the ones calling the shots, running the city, etc. when the chips are down, especially regarding any possible accountability for police murdering citizens in cold blood.

[eggplant]

25. That's complete and utter bullshit.

It is the corrupt and out-of-control departments that coddle bad cops, not the union. Unions do not protect terrible members. They ensure due process.

[hollysmom]

29. Well, I spent summers typing up grievances to work my way through college.

The union is there to represent the member, not to assume guilt or innocence, because I have to say some of the grievances were absurd to say the least - was home sick but got a sunburn by sitting next to a closed window? Or a a obscenity loaded grievance complaining that they were fired shouting obscenities at everyone. uh, yeah. The union rep would just present the grievance and then a mediation board would decide. So basically, I was told not to judge anyone, not my job.

[sulphurdunn]

33. That is correct.

Unions do not run internal affairs departments or management. They do not decide if disciplinary action will or will not be brought against a member. They do not make decisions regarding policy. They do insure that their labor contract is honored and that their members receive due process.

[99th_Monkey]

34. Perhaps you've heard of ...

The Blue Code of Silence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Code_of_Silence

I'm genuinely happy for you if your local police union is turning in the bad cops on a regular basis. Our experience in Portland Oregon is exactly the opposite of that, so your blanket approval of ALL police unions is a wee bit misplaced, in my experience.

[eggplant]

42. Yes, yes I have heard of it.

And I also believe it exists, and can be a problem.

But it's got zero to do with unionization. Unions have *nothing* to do with the day-to-day operation of a police force. Nothing.

I would really like to hear you explain the relationship between police unions and the protection of bad cops. Go ahead. I'm all ears.

[99th_Monkey]

44. I cannot speak for other cities, but regarding Portland ... here are 5 for starters

PORTLAND POLICE UNION PRESIDENT TEARFULLY DEFENDS POLICE BRUTALITY, AMIDST FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
http://pdxintelligencer.com/portland-police-union-president-tearfully-defends-police-brutality-amidst-federal-investigation/

Portland police union president: 'Why do we expose ourselves to the scrutiny of those who have never walked in our shoes?'
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/02/portland_police_union_presiden_7.html

Portland police union president slams city's independent inquiries into alleged officer misconduct
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/06/portland_police_union_presiden_8.html

Police Union Has "Many Concerns" About Talk of Outfitting Cops with Body Cameras
http://www.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2014/09/18/police-union-has-many-concerns-about-talk-of-outfitting-cops-with-body-cameras

Portland Police Association Contract: What Did Portland Buy for $5 Million?
http://www.portlandcopwatch.org/PPR53/ppa_contract53.html

[eggplant]

49. An interesting collection of articles.

The first one is satire.

The second one talks of how the union dropped its opposition to the DOJ settlement. That's how negotiation works.

The third one says that the independent arbitrator agreed that the officer was at fault, but that the punishment (demotion) wasn't appropriate. That's how arbitration works.

The fourth one lists the issues that need to be addressed before body cameras can be legally implemented. Most of these sound completely legitimate.

The fifth one is from three years ago from a heavily biased source. It basically says that the city council hired crappy lawyers when they negotiated their contract with the union. Blame the council if you don't like what they agreed to.



Look, I don't live there. The complaints sound accurate. Police brutality is unacceptable. But the *union* doesn't cause it. The only thing the union can do is force the city to follow the contract they signed. If you don't like the terms of the contract, complain to the council, or elect people who will stand up for you.

[99th_Monkey]

52. The case of Aaron Campbell

This article is from the Guardian 4 days ago, and the Police Union was in lockstep with the perps & bad apples every step of the way.

Portland police's problem with race: 'This city is not as liberal as it thinks it is'
Chris McGreal * The Guardian * 9.20.2014

In early 2010, Portland police officers were dispatched to check on the welfare of a young African American man whose brother had died earlier that day. Aaron Campbell was at his girlfriend’s flat and was said to be distraught over the death of his brother, whom he had nursed before he succumbed to heart disease and kidney failure. A family member called the police, fearing Campbell might be suicidal, and officers arrived to check that he was not going to harm himself or anyone else.

The police quickly established that Campbell was heartbroken, not dangerous, and even exchanged a jokey text message with him that helped put the officers at ease. But then a second police unit arrived, armed with tactical weapons.

It had limited communication with the officers talking to Campbell. It did not know that they had concluded he was fine and they were prepared to leave. Within minutes the unarmed Campbell was dead, following a sequence of events that an incredulous grand jury later said was all the more outrageous because what happened was legal under police regulations in a city that regards itself as one of the most progressive in the US.

The civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called Campbell’s killing “an execution”. It prompted a US Department of Justice investigation into a decade of the use of excessive force by the Portland police, from the beating to death in custody of a musician to an officer holding a gun to the head of an unarmed woman before she was shot.

The probe led to a court agreement in August between the city and federal authorities on reforms to police training, use of force and accountability. The Justice Department described what it called a “groundbreaking deal” as introducing “innovative new mechanisms” to ensure community participation in oversight of the reforms with the inclusion of civil rights groups as a party to the agreement. The deal also requires the appointment of an official to monitor changes and the election of a community advisory board on policing.

The federal judge who approved the agreement, Michael Simon, took the unusual step, over the objections of the city’s leadership and the police union, of ordering that its implementation should be reviewed by the court each year to ensure it was being fulfilled.

Civil rights leaders have described the deal as a potential model for co-operation in other cities, such as Ferguson, Missouri, which was rocked by protests over the killing of Michael Brown by a white police officer last month.

The Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, an association of Portland civil rights groups that is a party to the deal, welcomed it as a “major step to creating a true community policing culture”. It said the agreement was important “to prevent a Ferguson upheaval in Portland”.

But the AMA Coalition chair, Reverend LeRoy Haynes, like others pressing for police reform, is also critical of the agreement because he says the Justice Department sidestepped the real issue – race.

“Six percent of this city is black, but about a third of those shot by the police are African American,” he said. “There certainly is a racial issue in this city with police shootings.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/20/portland-police-race-reform-crime

[eggplant]

53. Sigh.

Sounds like both the council and the union were opposed. And they were both overruled.

Like I said, I have no doubt that all sorts of bad shit is happening there. But the union does not dictate policy. The council, the mayor and the chief of police do. Are you suggesting that they all *want* to deal with these very real problems, and are somehow being held hostage by the *union*? That the union is the bad actor here?

Why aren't you placing blame at anyone else's feet?

[99th_Monkey]

59. I don't think it's ONLY the union that's problematic

but am struck by how weird it is for any union to take up the cause of hired bullies with guns who murder citizens in cold blood, that's all.

[eggplant]

62. For the same reason that an attorney would.

The union represents the cop, for better or for worse. If they didn't, they wouldn't be a union. It doesn't matter what the guy was accused of doing, whether there are a zillion witnesses and video of the guy planning, acting, and then bragging about it later. They have to suck it up and represent them.

(The two self-deletes were me trying to have this show up as a response to 99th_Monkey and failing for some reason.)

[99th_Monkey]

65. IMHO that is absurd logic my friend

That's saying that unions should place themselves above the law, to deliberately obstruct justice, when they know damn well they are protecting cold-blooded murderers.

Unlike legal representation by an attorney, or say a priest, there is NO constitutional hook to hang unions on, that gives them special rights to obstruct justice and protect murderers.

ON EDIT: plus, you started out saying that "pollce unions call-out the bad apple cops", and now you are saying they have a "duty" to do the exact opposite. Just sayin'

[eggplant]

72. Um, I'm pretty sure I never said that.

I believe that my comments have been pretty consistent. Unions protect the due process rights of their members, and negotiate and defend the contract that was agreed upon with the city. A union acts in the interests of its collective members. Unions don't have any direct control over management. Firing someone requires action by management, and previously agreed upon rules have to be followed.

Even if there is a clear case where the cop is in the wrong, the union is still obligated to provide them with counsel as part of any arbitration related to their job (firing, demotion, etc). It is *because* the union doesn't evaluate the alleged event, but instead provides support to their member on their way towards mediation, that makes them a union.

If the DA decides a crime has been committed, they proceed with it. If not, it isn't the union that prevents it.

[99th_Monkey]

73. "Unions do not protect terrible members."

Is what you said, which was what I was referencing.

OK I'll give you that "protecting due process" is one tiny step away from outright protecting terrible cops, but it is quite a fine distinction.

I think we've both had our say, and still do not agree completely, yet I appreciate you taking the time to explain what you meant.

I wish my experience DID align more with yours, but sadly it doesn't.

Thanks for playing

[eggplant]

43. And amazingly, your link doesn't even *mention* the word "union".

Nope, not even once.

[99th_Monkey]

45. Actually I did post this ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025579902#post8

and as you can read down-string, I still stand by my concerns with Portland's Police "Union"

[Logical]

46. LOLOLOLOL, really? You really are claiming Police unions do not protect BAD cops??? nt

[eggplant]

47. I'm claiming that unions represent their cops at arbitration. "Protect" is the wrong word here.

My sister is an attorney for a number of police unions. The union has no control over firings -- they represent the cop at neutral arbitration. Bad cops get canned ONLY when their management WANTS them gone and they have a VALID reason. If management doesn't want to can them, you can't blame the union for it.

Well, you can, but you'd be wrong.

[Logical]

48. Do some research on the Philly Police Union. Read before posting!!Gullible much? nt

[eggplant]

50. Ok, I did some reading up.

Since I don't live there and I might have missed a story, would you be willing to list some of the issues with the FOP in Philly? I'd like to learn more about them, so I can have a reasonable discussion with you.

[Louisiana1976]

9. That's life in a fascist, racist police state.

[Enthusiast]

32. PLUS ONE, a whole bunch!

[Stellar]

12. tears!!!!

the babies.

[99th_Monkey]

14. No kidding.

My gf has a 14 y.o. daughter so this hits close to home for me.

It's just too much sometimes to read about this stuff, but I must
not shrink from this, but try to do my part to shed light of day
on this horrific evil that is springing up in our midst in form of
militarized sadists who literally have a "license to kill at will",
no questions asked, nothing to see here.

Words fail.

[Stellar]

18. I think of my 16yr old grandson.

It still hurts.

[99th_Monkey]

15. Wonder what else was on his "public relations" TO DO list? ~nt~

[Boom Sound 416]

16. ?

[hughee99]

17. My town in MA is quite small, and our PIO handles normal police calls

in addition to being the PIO. I'm not sure how big this place is, but I don't think it would be that unusual for a town (parrish) with only 20 or so police officers.

[madville]

20. That's not the shooter

The POI state trooper is just making the public statement.

The Deputy that shot the teen was reported to be a field training office, also on the SWAT team and also Black as well.

[Boom Sound 416]

24. You're right. I misunderstood.

[CreekDog]

67. not sure why you felt the need to try to offer a contrarian point of view in the thread

why would you do that in response to a pretty clear cut, obvious video?

[Boom Sound 416]

68. Lonely much?

[CreekDog]

69. Not at all, I'm surrounded by great people constantly

My question to you is an observation based on your posts on the topic and ones like it, combined with your PM to me accusing me of posting anti-cop messages on DU, which I haven't done as my posting history shows.

[Boom Sound 416]

70. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[CreekDog]

71. clever way to avoid responding

[bigdarryl]

26. I don't give a flying you know what if he is black

A lot of black cops are more blue than they are black

[Boom Sound 416]

41. And that would be DU derangement

[CreekDog]

57. The poster isn't deranged.

Institutional racism against a minority group can be carried out by minority group members against other minority group members.

[madville]

19. Another article about the incident

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20140923/ARTICLES/140929821?p=2&tc=pg

Says that the deputy that shot him is also Black and that the 911 caller (presumably a neighbor) reported that the intruders were armed. Also says that neighbors reported three shots and the sheriffs spokesman reports that the teen was armed when he was shot.

Whatever the real details are, still a tragedy.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

23. Oh, dear

Well, with that bit of news, I'm going to say that I hope justice is served, because right now, we don't know enough to hope for anything else.

[yeoman6987]

31. It seems the 911 calls are really causing the overblown action of the cops

Every single story that we have heard lately has been a nosey body who is calling 911 and clearly over reacting to the situation.

[lunasun]

51. +1 noticed it too

[blkmusclmachine]

21. SSDD

[KamaAina]

22. Do I even need to post this?

P.S. Bad Raw Story. The NOLA cat box liner is the Times-Picayune, not the "Time-Pacayune".

edit: And no, I did not post that because his shirt has the Patriots instead of the Saints.

[Bonx]

27. Raw Story did a good job of sensationalizing the story

with questionable content designed to agitate their readers.
But they usually do.

[yeoman6987]

28. Tillman’s brother, Andre, said that his brother heard a knock at the door of the abandoned home

Abandoned home? Are they just playing around in a house that is not theirs? Much more information needed on this story.

[99th_Monkey]

35. As usual a black male child is shot dead by police

and then the "real story" emerges i.e. that he "stole cigars" etc. or in this case, that he was playing where he shouldn't have been, or whatever. and people seem all too eager to go "oh well then he deserved it".

Really people?

[yeoman6987]

38. Actually I blame the nosey neighbor

She mentioned weapons. If there were none, I think she needs to be charged as well.

[99th_Monkey]

40. True dat ~nt~

[alp227]

61. Nosy neighbor?

Could the neighbor have witnessed behavior that signaled home invasion/robbery? Did the neighbor know the house was vacant?

[MattBaggins]

54. Playing in abandoned homes

There have been countless books and movies about kids going into spooky old homes.

It was a right of passage in my small town. If the cops caught us we got lectured and our parents called. We didn't get shot and killed.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

58. And in those books about kids going into spooky old homes

they weren't making crack. Well....we weren't cooking up a batch in that old house at the end of the sugar cane field. Now, every abandoned house is seen by cops as a potential crack making factory (or worse) and they act accordingly.

Yep, every black kid is a potential criminal and every abandoned house a potential crime scene.

[Feron]

56. Really?!

When I was a kid, my friends and I would play in the new, but unoccupied and open, houses in my neighborhood. But I guess that was fine because we all had white skin.

There does need to be more information however.

[madville]

36. The other accomplices in the break-in could potentially

The other accomplices in the alleged break-in could potentially be charged with the 14 year old's murder in many states. Wouldn't put it past some DAs to do that in order for the police to have some leverage regarding the other teenagers' statements of the shooting.

[AverageJoe90]

37. Goddamn. When is this shit going to stop?

Honestly, there's no reason for this cop to have shot a kid simply because he was playing around in an abandoned home.

[99th_Monkey]

39. Agreed on all points.

The shit I got away with when I was a teen makes this look tame,
but still some are jumping on that as if to say "oh well, then he
deserves it' somehow.

[sabrina 1]

55. And we are the civilized nation, going to bomb those uncivilized 'terrorists' in Syria!

Add one more murder to what appears to be a daily routine here in this democracy of ours.

RIP to yet another victim of the violence of our 'civilian' police.

[99th_Monkey]

60. +10 n/t