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Groton Daily Independent
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 ~ Vol. 24 - No. 349 ~ 14 of 41
in getting the verdicts overturned in 2012 after a far-reaching inquiry that examined previously secret documents and exposed wrongdoing and mistakes by police.
Some 23 suspects, including individuals and organizations, had faced the possibility of charges.
The Hillsborough disaster prompted a sweeping modernization of stadiums across England. Top division stadiums were largely transformed into safer, all-seat venues, with fences around elds torn down.
Barry Devonside, who lost his son Christopher in the disaster, met the news with mixed emotions, but insisted it was “only right and proper that we fought for our loved ones.”
“I was frightened we were going to be let down again,” he told Sky News. “We have been smacked in the face on a number of occasions. The families have acted with the utmost of dignity.”
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This story corrects the former chief of South Yorkshire Police’s last name to Bettison. ___
Jill Lawless contributed to this story.
3 Chicago of cers accused of lying about teen’s shooting By MICHAEL TARM and DON BABWIN, Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Three Chicago police of cers have been indicted on charges that they conspired to cover up and lie about what happened when a white police of cer shot a black teenager 16 times — an incident that prompted outrage when a video of the killing was nally released.
The indictment handed down Tuesday alleges that one current and two former of cers lied about the events of Oct. 20, 2014, when Of cer Jason Van Dyke killed Laquan McDonald.
The of cers’ version of events contradicts what can be seen on police dashcam video, in which the teenager spins after he was shot and falls to the ground — seemingly incapacitated — as the of cer con- tinues to re shot after shot into his body. The indictment further alleges that of cers lied when they said McDonald ignored Van Dyke’s verbal commands and that one of the of cers signed off on a report that claimed the other two of cers were, in fact, victims of an attack by McDonald.
“The co-conspirators created police reports in the critical early hours and days following the killing of Laquan McDonald that contained important false information,” says the indictment in which the three are charged with felony counts of obstruction of justice, of cial misconduct and conspiracy.
The indictments mark the latest chapter in what has been one of the most troubling events in the his- tory of a police force dogged by allegations of racism, brutality and the protection of of cers who brutalize African-Americans. The video sparked massive protests, cost the police superintendent his job and left the city scrambling to implement reforms to regain shattered public trust.
In January, the Department of Justice issued a scathing report that found the department had violated the constitutional rights of residents for years, including by too often using excessive force and killing suspects who posed no threat.
Around the country, there are renewed questions whether the legal system is willing to punish of cers, particularly after two police of cers — one in in Milwaukee and the other in Minnesota — were acquitted and a mistrial was declared in Cincinnati in the shootings of blacks that were captured by video.
Patricia Brown Holmes — appointed special prosecutor last July to investigate of cers at the scene and involved in the investigation of the shooting — said in a news release that the three — David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney — “coordinated their activities to protect each other and other members of the Chicago Police Department,” including by ling false police reports, ignoring contrary evidence and not even attempting to interview keys witnesses.
“The indictment makes clear that these defendants did more than merely obey an unof cial ‘code of silence,” Holmes said in the statement. “It alleges that they lied about what occurred to prevent indepen- dent criminal investigators from learning the truth.”
The of cers allegedly began to conspire almost immediately on the day of the shooting, “to conceal the true facts of the events surrounding the killing of Laquan McDonald” and “to shield their fellow of cer