Grand Jury: No Indictment for Cops in John Crawford III Wal-Mart Shooting

[babylonsister]

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/grand_jury_no_indictment_for_cops_in_john_crawford_iii_walmart_shooting.html


Grand Jury: No Indictment for Cops in John Crawford III Wal-Mart Shooting

No officers will be charged in the death of John Crawford III, who was shot while carrying a BB gun sold at the store.
By: Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
Posted: Sept. 24 2014 12:27 PM


An Ohio special grand jury decided after days of deliberation that no officers will be charged in the death of 22-year-old John Crawford III, who was shot and killed inside a Beaverton Wal-Mart while carrying an air rifle sold at the store.

Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier announced Wednesday morning at a press conference that the jury found the Aug. 5 police shooting justified.

WHIO reports that this is the third time in the past five years that an Ohio grand jury has decided not to indict police in a case in which the shooting was highly questionable.

According to witnesses, Crawford was walking around the store carrying a gun that is similar to a BB gun at his waist. Police responded to calls of a man carrying a gun, and when they encountered Crawford, they claim, he didn't respond to calls to drop the gun and was shot.

Crawford's family has stated emphatically since the shooting that race has played a factor in Crawford's death and that the shooting was not justified. It was also reported that Crawford was on the phone at the time of the shooting and may not have heard the police commands. The family is demanding that the federal authorities investigate the case.

Piepmeier also announced that the surveillance video of the shooting will be released to the public, according to Cincinnati.com.

[MohRokTah]

1. Cop badge = license to murder with impunity and no accountability. eom

[marym625]

2. Jesus christ

This is HORRIBLE! WT-HOLY-FUCK!?!?!

[yeoman6987]

3. This one doesn't surprise me at all

He was carrying a weapon. Some of the others will come back with different conclusions.

[BronxBoy]

4. So were a lot of

open carry protestors who pranced through target and Krogers. I have yet to read about one of them being shot dead.

This is just America letting us know what the rules are

[yeoman6987]

5. Well did any of the CC gun holders take their gun

Out of the holster and start aiming it all over the place. Find me a few instances of those and I will agree with you.

[BronxBoy]

6. He didn't aim it all over the place.....

I watched the video and didn't see that. And I said open carry not CC

[marym625]

7. Are you defending the cops?

I don't want to put words in your mouth. I am trying to understand why you are saying what you are saying

[yeoman6987]

8. Oh you misunderstand

I was not on the Grand Jury and really can't figure out why you thought that. I gave no inkling of that.

[marym625]

11. That's why I asked

I was hoping you were just saying that because he had a "gun" the GJ had an out to not indict. But it could read that's what you thought

Thank you

[Chakab]

18. Oh for fuck's sake. You are aware that the "former Marine" who called the cops

and claimed that Crawford was "aiming the gun all over the place" changed his story aren't you?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025531339


He's also not a "former Marine." He lied about that too. Dude got kicked out of boot camp.

[Blue_Tires]

19. Yeah, the victim is black and the open-carry crowd is lily-white

Ergo, any black male carrying a weapon must be a criminal!

[countryjake]

9. Breaking News - The Feds are going to review the murder

U.S. Department of Justice to review Walmart shooting Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014

http://www.whio.com/news/news/local/us-department-justice-review-walmart-shooting/nhTNz/

Federal authorities will perform an independent review of Walmart shooting that resulted in the death of two people at a Beavercreek Walmart.

The case involving the shooting death of John Crawford III will be reviewed by the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a statement issued today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office released that statement after a special grand jury's decision not to hand down indictments in the case involving two Beavercreek police officers.

Federal officials will conduct "an independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding the August 5, 2014, fatal shooting of John Crawford III by an officer with the Beavercreek Police Department," according to a statement released today. "The Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office, and the FBI have been monitoring the state's investigation of this case. The Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office, and the FBI will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence and take appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes. This is an on-going investigation; therefore, the Department can make no further comment on this case at this time."

[babylonsister]

12. Thanks for that, and good! nt

[countryjake]

14. Yes, I'm glad for that, but I also think that 911 caller needs to be held accountable...

for provoking an incident which resulted in two deaths.

That asshole lied thru his teeth, claiming that Crawford was pointing a weapon at shoppers, children, waving it around and aggressively threatening people, even attempting to load it. When I first read the article that described his call (since no video of the shooting was allowed to be released earlier), even I figured that no indictment could be possible...it sounded as tho Crawford had been an actual threat in that Walmart.

The now viewable video disproves every single thing that Ronald Ritchie claimed.

Doubts cast on witness's account of black man killed by police in Walmart Sunday 7 September 2014
Alleged to have threatened customers, John Crawford, 22, was having a phone conversation while holding an unloaded BB gun

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/07/ohio-black-man-killed-by-police-walmart-doubts-cast-witnesss-account

When Ronald Ritchie called 911 from the aisles of a Walmart in western Ohio last month to report that a black man was “walking around with a gun in the store”, he said that shoppers were coming under direct threat.

“He’s, like, pointing it at people,” Ritchie told the dispatcher. Later that evening, after John Crawford III had been shot dead by one of the police officers who hurried to the scene in Beavercreek, Ritchie repeated to reporters: “He was pointing at people. Children walking by.”

This whole thing is disgusting to me. It rarely has been possible for a minority to seek justice in Greene County, but the murder of this young man is simply outrageous. He was glued to his cellphone the entire time he carried that pellet gun, never aggressive, not one bit. It was dropped immediately as soon as he was confronted by cops, seconds before they murdered him.

[Dirty Socialist]

10. Lawsuit Time?

Too bad criminal charges weren't filed.
They can still try it in Civil Court.

[nomorenomore08]

13. That's become the back-door way for the families to get some form of "justice."

I'm sure they'd rather have their relative back, needless to say.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. That kid was "swatted" by the 911 caller.

That doesn't excuse the cops but the 911 caller is partially responsible.

[countryjake]

17. Exactly!

(I can't even talk about this anymore, about to blow)

[Logical]

16. Wow, I bet the evidence presented was 100% shit. They do not like getting.....

Cos indited.