Police
Family calls for Rochester police to be charged after man dies from asphixation
The family of a Black man who died after Rochester, New York, police arrested him during a mental health emergency earlier this year
The family of Daniel Prude, who died after Rochester, New York, police arrested him during a mental health emergency earlier this year is calling for charges.
Body cam footage
Newly released body camera footage showed officers pinning him on the ground and placing a bag over his head before he lost consciousness.
His death received no public attention until Wednesday, when his family held a news conference.
During the conference they released police body camera video and written reports they obtained through a public records request.
Rochester police called for Daniel Prude
Prude, 41, of Chicago, was visiting his brother in Rochester when his brother called police because Daniel was having a mental episode.
The body cam video shows Rochester officers detaining a naked Daniel Prude in the early hours of March 23 and was ordered to lie on the ground.
Police put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him.
The video shows Prude yelling and spitting as he lies completely naked on the snow-covered ground. A white spit hood is placed on his head.
Later, an officer appears to be pushing his head into the pavement.
Prude was taken to the hospital.
He died seven days later on March 30 after being taken off life support.
His death was ruled a homicide, caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.”
Prude was admitted to the hospital hours before
Joe Prude said he admitted his brother to a hospital for help hours before the incident, but Daniel Prude was released after a short time.
Joe Prude added he told officers that his brother was not a threat to anyone but himself and asked them not to kill him.
“They knew the mental distress he was in,” Joe Prude told reporters.
“The man is defenseless, butt-naked on the ground. He was cuffed up already,” said Daniel Prude’s brother, Joe Prude to CBS Chicago.
“I mean, come on. How many more brothers need to die for society to understand that this needs to stop?”
Mayor calls video disturbing
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren called the video “disturbing” and said they are still waiting for Attorney General Letitia James’ office to give a report.
James said in a statement that her office is actively investigating the incident.
“As with every investigation, we will follow the facts of this case and ensure a complete and thorough examination of all relevant parties. We will work tirelessly to provide the transparency and accountability that all our communities deserve,” she said in the statement.
Rochester police officers involved with Daniel Prude
Seven officers involved in the incident have been suspended with pay pending an investigation.
“I am suspending the officers in question today against council’s advice, and I urge the attorney general to complete her investigation,” Rochester’s Mayor Lovely Warren said.
“I understand that the union may sue the city for this, they shall feel free to do so — I have been sued before.”
----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Police
Family of Black girls handcuffed by Colorado police, held at gunpoint reach $1.9 million settlement
The family of four Black girls who were wrongfully detained and held at gunpoint by Aurora, CO police have reached a settlement with the city.
Family of Black girls held at gunpoint reach settlement
Finalized on Monday, the families will collectively receive $1.9 million.
The settlement marks the latest payout the City of Aurora has been forced to make over officers’ excessive use of force.
In 2021, the city paid a $15 million settlement to Elijah McClain’s family, a 23-year-old Black man who died in 2019 after officers put him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine.
The incident
In August 2020, four Black girls, ages 6, 12, 14 and 17, were held face down on the ground and put in handcuffs in a nail salon parking lot, crying and screaming, as officers towered over them.
Brittney Gilliam, the mother of the 6-year-old, was driving that Sunday morning with her relatives, because they were going to get their nails done together.
Wrongfully detained
But before they made it in the salon, Gilliam was detained after officers mistakenly thought she was driving a stolen S.U.V.
Police had mistakenly believed Gilliam was driving a stolen car.
And a simple second step police failed to take, resulted in the family being wrongfully detained.
Officers didn’t type in the plate number in a second database to show them the make of the vehicle. If they had, authorities said, the officers would have realized that the plate number was registered to a motorcycle in Montana.
Black girls and mother held at gunpoint traumatized
Dozens of bystanders watched the ordeal unfold, and video footage of the incident went viral, sparking protests over racial injustice, citing excessive force on Black Americans.
After the video went viral, Aurora police had apologized for their grave mistake, but the emotional trauma had already happened.
The Aurora Police Department said its officers are trained to draw their weapons before telling passengers to exit the vehicle and ordering them to lie on the ground, The Post reported.
Officers who held Black girls at gunpoint
One of the two officers who drew their guns and handcuffed members of the family was initially suspended.
However, he and the other officer that pulled his firearm remain on the police force, the New York Times reports.
To date, no officers were fired or charged in connection with the incident.
----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Police
2023 saw a record year of killings by police in U.S.
The number of people killed by police in the United States reached a new high in 2023, according to new research.
The number of people killed by police in the United States reached a new high in 2023, according to new research.
2023 police killings increased dramatically
Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, dockets deaths at the hands of police officers. Last year, it recorded the highest number of killings since its national tracking began in 2013.
Statistics explained
The data reported that police officers killed 1,329 people in 2023, representing nearly a 19-percent increase over the 11-year span.
Nearly 90% of those killed were fatally shot, according to Abdul Nasser Rad, managing director of research and data at Campaign Zero, who runs Mapping Police Violence.
There were only 14 days without a police killing last year and on average, law enforcement officers killed someone every 6.6 hours, according to the report.
Meanwhile last year, the number of people killed by gunfire and officers killed in the line of duty declined, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. There was an increase in the number of police officers shot.
The newly released data suggests a grim reality and a systemic crisis, with an average of about three people killed by officers each day, with slight increases in recent years. In 2022, 1,250 were killed by police.
The data also reported that Black people were about 2.8 times more likely to be killed by officers than their white counterparts between 2013 and 2023.
Recording police misconduct
For decades, many Americans have suffered various forms of brutality and injustice at the hands of “bad” law enforcement officers.
When a civilian puts in a complaint against the officer only a small percent of complaints result in the officer being disciplined —partly because the accusations are hidden.
Half of the battle is knowing who the “bad” law enforcement are and proper action being taken.
Missin Peace, a national police misconduct database that collects formal civilian complaints against law enforcement, helps fill that void.
In 2022, we had a conversation with the creators, who urged those who filed a complaint against an officer, to upload it on their website as well.
While there is still much work to do, it’s a start.
----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Police
14-year-old boy with autism tased by police in what family says was case of mistaken identity
An Illinois family is demanding answers after their 14-year-old autistic son was tased by police in what they maintain was a case of mistaken identity.
An Illinois family is demanding answers after their 14-year-old autistic son was tased by police in what they maintain was a case of mistaken identity.
14-year-old autistic boy tased by police
In an interview with WLS Chicago, the family says that the teen, Avarius Thompson, suffered injuries, including a fractured hip, during an encounter with Dolton police on the morning of Nov.
Police’s incident report
According to the Dolton Police Department’s incident report, Dolton police were assisting police in the nearby neighborhood of Riverdale in the search for four Black males who had fled from a crashed, stolen vehicle, two of whom were allegedly carrying rifles and a handgun.
Dolton officers spotted two subjects, one of whom matched the description of a suspect sought in the incident, in a nearby backyard and pursued them, according to the incident report.
An officer pursuing Avarius ordered the teen to stop before tasing him, according to the incident report.
The incident was captured on the officer’s body-camera footage.
“Hands up! Hands up!” a Dolton police officer can be heard yelling in the body-camera footage as he runs toward Avarius with his Taser extended. After the teen jumps over a fence, the officer deploys the taser, the footage shows.
Avarius attempts to get up when the officer deploys his Taser again a few seconds later, the footage shows.
“Don’t move. Don’t move,” the officer says. “You move, you’re going to get some more.”
Avarius’ father, Eric Thompson, told WLS that the footage was “frightening.”
----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube
Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
-
Crime & Justice4 weeks ago
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
-
News2 weeks ago
5-year-old helps save his family from house fire
-
Crime & Justice3 weeks ago
Honor student killed by stray bullet while visiting Delaware State University
-
Crime & Justice2 weeks ago
Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service
-
Sports2 weeks ago
Gymnast Morgan Price becomes the first HBCU athlete to win national collegiate title
-
Social Justice3 weeks ago
Former high school athletic director arrested and charged with using AI to frame principal
-
Social Justice2 weeks ago
Family of Black teen shot in head after ringing doorbell of wrong home sues gunman and HOA
-
LGBTQ2 days ago
Creating a safe space for Black LGBTQ+ joy