Federal Probe Set In Ohio Wal-Mart Police Shooting
Source: Associated Press
CINCINNATI (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department will investigate possible civil rights violations in the fatal police shooting of a man holding an air rifle at a Wal-Mart store in Ohio.
Federal authorities made the announcement Wednesday, just hours after a special grand jury found that the officers' actions were justified.
U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart in Columbus says the department's Civil Rights Division, the FBI, and his office will conduct an independent review of the case.
The family of 22-year-old John Crawford III has said they believe the shooting wasn't justified and asked for a federal probe.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/76a5cd01f7c542f5b2c7f77c59c0c98b/no-indictment-ohio-wal-mart-shooting
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irisblue
(32,980 posts)State AG Mike Dewine-(R) is shady. I wouldn't trust him to tell me the correct color of the sky. That area of the state is a R stronghold.
safeinOhio
(32,687 posts)He has lost just about every case in court since becoming AG.
irisblue
(32,980 posts)
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)Republicans will probably tell us that the correct color of the sky is shit brown and always has been. ALEC will then model legislation to make of felony of suggesting that it was ever blue.
BumRushDaShow
(129,064 posts)Since the local DA was completely clueless, this is the next step.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)
Judi Lynn
(160,542 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)rifle or just a semi-automatic?
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)
Garion_55
(1,915 posts)it seems pretty obvious that the shooting was not justified.
they never yelled at the guy to put the weapon down, they never gave him a chance to surrender, he wasnt pointing it at them. they shot him from like 30 feet away while he wasnt even looking at them.
if that was justifiable homicide, we are in deeper shit then we thought
herding cats
(19,565 posts)When was it released and do you have a link?
Garion_55
(1,915 posts)when they announced no indictments.
herding cats
(19,565 posts)I'll look for that video.
Bryce Butler
(338 posts)herding cats
(19,565 posts)That was hard to watch. 
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Must be massive traffic on that site
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Show the whole FUCK ING video JESUS!!!!
Indydem
(2,642 posts)I don't blame the police officers, they were responding to a situation that had been completely mis-characterized by the 911 caller.
I blame 1 person, and one group of people:
1. The 911 caller. He made a call into he police and made what amounts to as a false report. He may have genuinely felt threatened by the guy waving the gun around (you can say whatever you want, but the video makes it clear he was waving it around) but his call made it seem far worse than it was. But I also have trouble blaming him because of the group I blame.
2. I blame the media. The sensationalize every mass shooting and make people genuinely afraid of people with guns, despite the fact that the statistical chance of being killed in a random shooting is virtually zero. The 911 caller has been programmed to believe that every guy with a gun is planning a mass shooting and he should be terrified.
greiner3
(5,214 posts)I think you got at least this part wrong.
After all the crazies doing their 'open carry' crap, the 15 witnesses (BTW, I'd love to hear what these people testified to the Grand Jury) much less the ONLY person who had a 'problem' with Mr. Crawford's actions was the 911 caller, who has since changed his story.
But I think you are right in that the caller better watch out Anonymous doesn't get a call to action on his ass and maybe have something planted on him.
Just sayin'.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Because if Crawford was white, he's still alive today and to cops treat the 911 call as a "simple misunderstanding"
If whites can open carry across the street from schools, in airports, hospitals, etc. and *NOT* get killed on a regular basis, then I'm wondering why we don't ever get the benefit of the doubt...If you want to blame "tha media" for something, blame them for always portraying black americans as criminals...
Indydem
(2,642 posts)Where they are:
A. Nonchalantly waving their guns around, pointing them every which way. (the video clearly shows this)
B. Authorities are called about said waving around, and told that the open carry whities are pointing their guns at people, and trying to load their weapon.
C. In a retail store where people and children are "in danger."
You are going to point me to the video of the senile old man with the shotgun. Great. You have fulfilled point A. Try again.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Would black folks have gotten away with that?
As for 'C', would black folks have gotten away with these recent examples??
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/open-carry-activist-tennessee-school
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/09/03/sky-harbor-airport-gun-details-report-abrk/15053753/
Are you seriously denying that race had anything to do with his death?
Billy Budd
(310 posts)a white man was strutting fully armed with a bullet proof vest near a school ....he did not get shot arrested or detained ...a Black man picks up a BB gun at a Walmart and is casually walking around and he gets gunned down with no mercy no warning no nothing .....White privilege...No country for Black men
Agalbraith
(52 posts)By watching the video linked to, how are some of you determining that...
1. no commands to drop the weapon were given before he was shot?
2. he was never given a chance to surrender?
there is no audio. There is no way to determine these things... unless of course you are using some other method to come up with these statements.
countryjake
(8,554 posts)At 8:26:55 on the newly released surveillance tape (5:42 on this video).
(Warning: Graphic murder)
Walmart surveillance tape shows Police shooting & killing John Crawford III, 9-1-1 call
Karmavore1
(4 posts)From what I read on this topic, this man was engrossed in a phone conversation, and was just idly playing with the toy.
I don't think it really matters if he is black or white - the actions as described by the person who phoned 911 set him up to be murdered by the trigger happy cops.
I know I've read about several posters who have admitted that if they see an person open carrying, they intend to call 911 and say the feel threatened and that the person is brandishing, even when they AREN'T.
I hope those people are reconsidering just what the repercussions of such actions are...
gopiscrap
(23,761 posts)countryjake
(8,554 posts)He told the dispatcher that Crawford pointed the gun at two children.
The synced Surveillance Footage/991 Call shows that when the woman (Angela Williams, who later collapsed and died of a heart attack after the cops began shooting, while they were evacuating the Walmart) and her two children appear at the end of that pet food aisle, John Crawford clearly does not point the pellet gun at them. It's pointed straight down at the floor and Crawford is standing completely still.
Someone else here at DU described what Ritchie did during his 911 call as "swatting". The FBI synchronization of his call with the surveillance footage proves that.
yesiwasacop
(93 posts)Looks like he is in the pet food section or something like that.
This news article says he was holding a crossman air rifle described as an mk-177. From the video it looks black in color.
Heres the news article with the bb-gun description:
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/08/09/cops-kill-man-in-wal-mart-carrying-an-air-rifle/13835805/
Heres the link to crossman website for that bb-gun:
http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/pump/30117
and here is a link to the FN website for the rifle that the bb-gun is a clone of:
http://www.fnherstal.com/primary-menu/products-capabilities/rifles/general/product/182/232/182/1/_/fn-scarR-l-std.html
Four questions:
1- Was the victim currently standing in the aisle where this bb-gun was displayed for sale?
2-Was the BB-gun originally displayed in some kind of package/box etc. If so, did the victim take it out of the box and proceed to walk around the store with it? Granted, it appears he pretty much stayed in this aisle where he was shot, but if it wasnt the bb-gun section (cant tell from the video) then was he walking through the store waving it around in the same manner as we see on video?
3- Did the bb-gun have an orange tip on it? The crossman website doesnt show one.
4- All things being equal- how is a cop supposed to tell this air rifle from the real thing?
Not defending either half of this, just questions that are not answered by the video.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)....they come in black and tan.
He does appear to be in the petfood section, which is usually not to close to sporting goods.
They are sold in sporting goods in a sealed box.
They have no orange tips because they are real guns, pellet guns with a muzzle velocity of about 800 feet per second. (over 500mph)
Taking one out of the box and walking around the store with it seems like a bad idea. (due to how real it looks) If you were really buying one you would need the barcode on the box, the directions in the box and the aim sights that are not yet attached and are in the box.
Here's a pic of a black one off the makers website:
yesiwasacop
(93 posts)I observed the same thing in a walmart close to hme this am. Didnt see your post otherwise wouldnt have made it. Seems our situation here is same as where you are.
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)Jawdropping.
The guy who made the 911 call should be charged with something -- he obviously, outrightly lied at least twice when talking to the dispatcher about what Crawford was doing.
One instance: The camera shows Crawford, by himself, in the pet aisle. He's moving the rifle from one shoulder to the next. Not pointing it at anything. At the bottom of the screen, three people (an adult and two kids) appear. The 911 caller then tells the dispatcher that Crawford was "pointing the gun at two kids." A LIE. The family apparently did not even notice Crawford -- they calmly walked out of the camera range with no reaction whatsoever. The caller also made it sound as if there were a lot of shoppers around Crawford, when, in fact, he was by himself in most of the footage.
And the cops, predictably, come storming in like gangbusters when there was really no reason to do so. I think they were responsible for a lot of the panic in the store that night (which caused a woman to have a fatal heart attack).
I don't know what the grand jury saw, but **nothing** on the store cam justified what ultimately happened. At least to me.
Here is a link to the video with audio: http://www.daytondailynews.com/videos/news/911-call-surveillance-video-together/vCtDnb/
(My apologies if this has already been posted.)
yesiwasacop
(93 posts)I saw the same model the victim was carrying around in the shooting video.
It was packaged in a box as was every single other air rifle in the store.
MOst wal marts I have been to have a similar layout and the air rifle / sporting goods section is quite a distance from the pet food area which is what it looks like our shooting victim was in.
Perhaps the walmart this guy was in displayed its air rifles without packaging...i dont know. If it was initially in a box, why would he open it up and carry the rifle around?
We are only seeing a very small portion of available video from walmart. Their security system has a movable fisheye and zoom cameras covering nearly every square inch of their stores. I have been in several different security offices at walmarts and they can pretty much see everything. If the loss-prevention guy is in there, he can literally follow you around the store with a camera and watch most everything you do. They typically do theis when they have a suspected shoplifter. They also will have up to three other loss-prevention officers walking the floor with cell phones and radios watching for shoplifters.
Most likely there wasnt a loss-prevention guy in the room at the time as he could have been out on the floor following someone around, dealing with another shoplifter or there might not have been one on duty at all.
There is lots more video, but prob walmart is not obligated to share it with the public because it would compromise their security system. Guaranteed though if there was relevant video in the store- the grand jury saw it.
Beaverhausen
(24,470 posts)There is no excuse for these cops to kill this man. None.
yesiwasacop
(93 posts)just bringing up the same points a jury will have to look at.
Yea I have seen that, but usually it is people trying to steal the item....and none of the items I have ever seen laying around a store which have been handled in that way resemble a real assault rifle.
At best, the guy is an idiot to walk around like that. Maybe he was mentally ill...who knows.
I think the cops should have at least engaged him verbally at first then if he pointed it at him, well it would be a justified shoot at that point.
