Police Secrecy Lead to Murky Details Surrounding the Death of Yet Another Unarmed Man

[damnedifIknow]

Only a few weeks after a naked unarmed Black man was fatally shot by police officers in DeKalb County, another unarmed Black man in Georgia has fallen victim to what some have already deemed excessive use of force by police.

Nicholas Taft Thomas, 23, was fatally shot on Tuesday by a police officer in Smyrna. Officers on the scene claimed he tried to run them over with his vehicle when they arrived at the Goodyear Tire where he worked to serve a felony probation violation warrant from Clayton County."

The only details anyone can be sure of at this point are that officers fired at Thomas’s vehicle and killed him.

Why the officers fired, how many shots were fired, where they fired and many other details surrounding the incident are murky.

Conflicting reports by both police officers and alleged eyewitnesses are leaving the details even further shrouded in a cloud of mystery."

*In Thomas’ case, two different reports have emerged about where the officers were in relation to the vehicle that they initially claimed was speeding towards them when one officer opened fire.

The Smyrna officers involved claimed they feared for their life because Thomas was driving his Maserati “directly at them.”

Smyrna police Sgt. Ed Cason supported the claims, telling The Marietta Daily Journal that the officers “were in fear for their lives and shot rounds into the vehicle, killing the suspect.”

In an emailed statement to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, however, Cason’s version of events creates a scene where officers wouldn’t have been standing in the vehicle’s path when they fired."

It is unclear if this attempt was what led to Thomas being fatally shot, but witnesses who claimed to have seen the entire incident unfold said one thing is certain.

They claim the officers were not at any risk of being run over when Thomas was fatally shot.

“The car was not moving when they began to shoot at him,” Brittany Eustache, who was inside the Goodyear when the shooting happened, told WSB-TV. “The car had been stopped. He hit a curb. He couldn’t go any further.”

http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/03/26/conflicting-reports-police-secrecy-lead-murky-details-surrounding-death-yet-another-black-georgia-man-killed-police/

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. The cops ALWAYS say the guy was trying to run them over. Might even be true some times.

But I sure don't take them at their word on it.

This kind of thing happens on a regular basis. Just set up a google alert with a bunch of terms like "officer kills" and you'll see.

[Rex]

2. Those cops need a 'good' DA! Anyone think Bob McCulloch is available?

That way those cops never have to face a criminal trial.

[djean111]

3. Well, I did assume that, despite lucrative contracts for body cameras and such, the only

thing that would actually change about police brutality is whether it will be recorded or noted. There will merely be a lot more secrecy, I think. And crackdowns on people recording stuff.