Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 12-7-18

National
Four St. Louis Police Officers Charged Over Brutal Beating Of A Black Undercover Cop
Four St. Louis police offi- cers, who conspired to cover up the brutal beating of an undercover cop who posed as a protestor, were charged Thursday for attempting to conceal their actions.
Officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays, Bailey Col- letta and Christopher Myers are at the center of a controversial investigation that involves street protests that erupted in 2017 after a former officer Jason Stock- ley was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.
Many have said that St. Louis police used unneces- sary and excessive force against protestors and things
The four officers at the center of the investigation.
Myers are charged with knocking the undercover cop who was monitoring protests, to the ground and then kicking and striking the officer with a police baton, Yahoo reports.
The officers who attacked a fellow cop face several felony charges, which include deprivation of constitutional rights and obstruction of jus- tice.
“In a few instances, some officers have fallen short of the professionalism required to work in our Police Depart- ment,” St Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards said in a statement.
“I believe (the four) offi- cers... are outliers and that
the charges levied against them are isolated and not in- dicative of our Police Depart- ment.”
The officers have been in- dicted and were suspended without pay, according to the city.
The American Civil Lib- erties Union said still the of- ficers have not faced enough repercussion as a result of their actions.
“While these officers have been indicted for illegally abusing an undercover offi- cer,” said the ACLU’s Tony Rothert, “there has still been no real accountability for... officers who engaged in the same behavior toward protestors.”
came to a head when one particular demonstrator was brutally beaten up and able to prove it.
That protestor happened
tobea22-yearveteranofthe St Louis police force, who was planted in the crowd to pose as a protestor.
Boone, Hays, and
Four Chicago Police Officers Face Disciplinary Action For Covering Up Fatal Laquan McDonald Shooting
Maryland Woman Killed After Giving Money To Woman She Thought Was Struggling Mom
Four police officers who reportedly conspired to cover up the details of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald will go before the Chicago police board next month and defend them- selves against corruption charges.
The officers, Janet Mon- dragon, Daphne Sebast- ian and Ricardo Viramontes and Sgt. Stephen Franko reportedly lied to the department in Au- gust 2016 about the details of the controversial McDonald shooting, the Chicago Sun- Times reports. The CPD has recommended that all four of the officers be fired for their role on or about Oct. 20, 2014.
According to reports, three of the officers, Franko, Mondragon and Sebast- ian deliberately failed to make in-car audio work on their dashboard camera. Of the five cars on the scene, just two had functioning video while none captured audio of the event.
The protest of the four officers who covered up the shooting of Laquon McDonald.
“Based on a verdict being rendered in the criminal trial of Jason Van Dyke and on the parties’ positions on the superintendent’s motion, as set out above, the Police Board finds that going for- ward with the Police Board cases will no longer prejudice or jeopardize any criminal case or constitutional right,” said a Police Board memo re- leased Thursday.
This revelation comes as three former Chicago cops accused of trying to cover up for Van Dyke, who was con- victed in the teen’s killing, are
facing a jury trial.
On Tuesday, the trial
of David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney kicked off after they for violating public trust when they agreed to fix their stories of what happened to McDonald in order to pro- tect officer Jason Van Dyke in the McDonald shooting.
The three men allegedly lied and said 17-year-old Mc- Donald attacked Gaffney, Walsh and Van Dyke. Their account contradicts dashboard camera footage.
A Maryland woman was fa- tally stabbed early Sunday after she gave money to a young woman who was carry- ing a sign that read: “Please Help me feed my Baby,” The Baltimore Sun reported.
Jacquelyn Smith, 52, was in Baltimore when she saw the woman with the sign. Smith was sitting in a passen- ger's seat inside a car at the time and rolled down the win- dow to give the woman money, the report said. An unidenti- fied man walked up to the win- dow during the interaction and attempted to take Smith’s wallet, the report said.
“This was a good Samaritan who saw an individual holding a sign, who appeared to be down on her luck,” Jeremy Silbert, with the Baltimore Police Department, told Fox Baltimore. “So, they stopped the car and gave her money.”
Police said a man ap- proached the vehicle to thank Smith for giving money but
Jacquelyn Smith and her husband.
then tried to steal Smith's wallet. He pulled out the knife and stabbed Smith in the chest, the report said. She died at a nearby hospital. Smith was returning from a family gathering. The man and the panhandler fled the scene.
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