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Veteran Stopped for No Front License Plate, Beat to Death by 5 Cops
DC Clothesline ^ | May 19, 2014 | Dean Garrison

Posted on 05/19/2014 4:37:00 PM PDT by eccentric

On Mother’s Day Tommy Yancy, father of two, was pulled over for not having a front license plate. What transpired beyond that point is not totally clear, but his injuries resulted in his death. Yancy, 32, was a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan.

There has been almost zero media coverage of the incident. A local publication, Imperial Valley Press, offers only a sidenote about his family raising money for his memorial and this:

The 32-year-old Yancy died following an altercation with law enforcement during a traffic stop May 11 in Imperial. The circumstances around the death and the traffic stop are still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

A source that wants to remain anonymous has come forward with a video and “WeAreChange” posted it to YouTube on Sunday. The quality of the video leaves a lot to be desired, but a lot of information is provided in the “About Section” of the video:

Tommy Yancy, 32, father of two, was savagely beaten to death by five law enforcement officers during a routine traffic stop near the city of Imperial last Sunday, on Mother’s Day. Yancy, a veteran who suffered from PTSD, served in Afghanistan and Iraq in the 259th Field Service Unit following the 9/11 attacks.

Yancy was stopped on his way to the store after a highway patrol officer spotted a missing front license plate on his vehicle. He was subsequently pulled from his car and attacked by a police K-9 unit, hit by a taser, and attacked by five officers until he succumbed to the beating and died. A witnessed, who filmed the incident, can be heard screaming on the recording: “How long before you guys call an ambulance? Call an ambulance!” According to the source of the video, who asked not to be named, his family has not been permitted to see his body, nor have they been given a cause of death.

A close friend of Yancy described him as “shy, and a comedian” and told me, he was an “excellent dad, who kept in contact with his army buddies every week.” He also enjoyed basketball and loved hip-hop music. His sister-in-law, Jaqueline Hernandez, described him to me as “a very loving guy, loved his kids to death… they were his everything. Very funny down to earth guy, and loved by all”.

Officers claim Yancy swung at an officer and attacked the K-9, however, near the end of the video, posted to YouTube on May 12 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoqvX…), police are seen attempting to revive Yancy while a witness states, “All of this for one guy who wasn’t even resisting arrest,”. The officer is said to have received no serious injuries.

Deputies with the Imperial County sheriff’s department were involved in another shooting last month, which took place on April 18. A teenager, Adrian Parra, was killed by multiple gunshot wounds. An honor roll student from Coachella Valley High School, Parra was described by loved ones as “a good person with great goals in mind.” The Sheriff’s department has refused to reveal whether or not the shooting was captured by one of their patrol car’s dashboard cameras. Two officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, but have since returned to their duties.

Read more at YouTube…

The witness claims that Yancy did not resist. The police involved, whether it be Imperial County, the California Highway Patrol, or both, will surely offer another story line. We can not assume that this entire account is factual. Maybe he did resist.

However even if he did resist and regardless of the details, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which a routine traffic stop should result in a man being beaten to death. Yet these stories are becoming all too common in today’s world.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: abuseofpower; arrestrelateddeaths; bbts; confrontationwatch; death; donutwatch; feos; leos; leosoutofcontrol; murder; nodog; police; standingarmy
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To: eccentric

I’ve been really torn in the past few years about my feelings toward law enforcement. My uncle was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1974. He rolled up on a burglary in progress and as soon as he got out his patrol car the perpetual started shooting at him. Though wounded, he managed to shoot the guy in the leg, but since my uncle only had his service revolver on him, once he fired his 6 rounds, he was toast. The person went to the squad car, got out the shotgun inside, and murdered my uncle. The guy is still in prison to this day. He was 17, so he wasted two lives that day.

Because of this family history, I planned on becoming a police officer when I graduated college. I even got my degree in Criminal Justice, which is fairly worthless if you aren’t going to be a police officer. I ended up becoming a school teacher, mostly because I felt that it would be more rewarding to help instill values into troubled kids before they had to deal with the police....I work in an inner city school, the police have never been real popular with the kids.

I guess I have rambled on enough, but I didn’t want to come off as a life long anti-law enforcement Internet tough guy. I read......alot, and I seem to be seeing more and more examples of police over reach, and blatant disregard for the people they are supposed to be protecting and serving. I myself have never had a negative interaction with the police, and even though my uncle was killed 40 years ago there are still many in my community who remember the incident.

I’m not really sure what the reason is for the police to seemingly be becoming more militarily based, but something has got to give.

(Please forgive any typos, I’m typing on my cell phone.)


61 posted on 05/19/2014 5:51:19 PM PDT by gop4lyf (Are we no longer in that awkward time? Or is it still too early?)
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To: Rodd OB

You’re right. I didn’t really think the incident happened in Simi valley but I was too lazy to look it up.


62 posted on 05/19/2014 5:51:44 PM PDT by jocon307
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To: null and void

LOL. You ought to know better than to ask that.


63 posted on 05/19/2014 5:52:53 PM PDT by TADSLOS (The Event Horizon has come and gone. Buckle up and hang on.)
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To: ansel12

I’m not saying those cops were wrong or right, but I’m just wondering how the hell these more recent cops failed to avoid killing this man who was stopped for a very minor infraction.


64 posted on 05/19/2014 5:54:19 PM PDT by jocon307
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To: null and void; Dutchboy88

Add me to your ping list.


65 posted on 05/19/2014 5:56:11 PM PDT by Blogatron (- Permanently banned from owning an NBA team.)
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To: eccentric

Yet many freedom loving conservatives are always welcoming new primary stop opportunities for LEO. Just say safety and the idiotocracy will bend over and drop trow. Then thank the officer for going in easy. Makes me physically ill.


66 posted on 05/19/2014 5:57:17 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deco et Vives)
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To: Blogatron

If you think you’re man enough to take it (some can’t get their fingers out of a dyke long enough to plug their ears!), sure!


67 posted on 05/19/2014 5:58:27 PM PDT by null and void (When was the last time you heard anyone say: "It's a free country"?)
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To: null and void

juries work in these cases usually...but we still have dead people...good people. Something has gone terribly wrong with many police department leaders and training.
I was pulled over for expired tags and the officer did his usual checking. Came back and said don’t make any fast movements, because he saw that I owed guns that were previously registered and I had all my belongings in my car from moving. It was actually non of his business to even bring up my registered guns, moving or not! These guys are really ill trained and thinking wrong about citizens often.


68 posted on 05/19/2014 5:59:20 PM PDT by fabian (" And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo in laughter")
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To: DariusBane

What new primary stop opportunities are conservatives calling for?


69 posted on 05/19/2014 6:03:28 PM PDT by ansel12 ((Ted Cruz and Mike Lee-both of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Comm as Ginsberg's importance fades)
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To: dalereed

it’s slang for steroids, which cause steroid rages


70 posted on 05/19/2014 6:03:56 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: null and void

Why do we wait until someone dies? LEO’s carry lethal force every day, and exercise authority in ways that can easily intimidate even the most law-abiding. They should be tested daily, with zero tolerance. One and done.


71 posted on 05/19/2014 6:05:07 PM PDT by motor_racer (Who will bell the cat?)
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To: null and void
well..I'm on?

72 posted on 05/19/2014 6:05:08 PM PDT by skinkinthegrass (The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun..0'Bathhouse/"Rustler" Reid? :-)
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To: skinkinthegrass; Blogatron; TADSLOS

Yes, you Blogatron and TADSLOS are all now members in good standing.


73 posted on 05/19/2014 6:08:38 PM PDT by null and void (When was the last time you heard anyone say: "It's a free country"?)
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To: jocon307

The Rodney King mention wasn’t directed at you, I just like to bring up the 11 or 13 seconds of the King video that the media has kept from the public, which shows king attacking the cops.

Few people know about it.


74 posted on 05/19/2014 6:08:54 PM PDT by ansel12 ((Ted Cruz and Mike Lee-both of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Comm as Ginsberg's importance fades)
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To: motor_racer

I disagree. First off that would be quite expensive, second off, daily testing practically guarantees that every officer will have a false positive or two throughout his or her career.

The same standard as locomotive engineers and bus drivers is sufficient.


75 posted on 05/19/2014 6:11:59 PM PDT by null and void (When was the last time you heard anyone say: "It's a free country"?)
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To: motor_racer

Oh, and lethal encounter includes traffic accidents as well as shootings tazerings and beat downs.


76 posted on 05/19/2014 6:13:10 PM PDT by null and void (When was the last time you heard anyone say: "It's a free country"?)
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To: ansel12

Um, seatbelts, tailights, cell phones, improper display of this or that, improper left turn, right turn, signalling. A cop who follows anyone for more than a block can figure out a reason to stop anybody. That’s by design.

If you think conservatives are not yammering for more risk transfer you have not been reading FR. Endless agitation over the years for seat belt laws, cell phone laws, helmet laws, really any excuse for The State to transfer risk is advocated here. .08 BAC and dui checkpoints roundly applauded.


77 posted on 05/19/2014 6:21:56 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deco et Vives)
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To: DariusBane

First those aren’t new, and don’t accuse conservatives of calling for those.

Nice try for a dig at conservatives, but it didn’t work.


78 posted on 05/19/2014 6:31:13 PM PDT by ansel12 ((Ted Cruz and Mike Lee-both of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Comm as Ginsberg's importance fades)
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To: ansel12
and iirc, it was a female he went off on...
79 posted on 05/19/2014 6:31:43 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: ansel12

“Those are not new”

??? What does that have to do with anything? The Law and Order Conservative is alive and well.


80 posted on 05/19/2014 6:33:21 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deco et Vives)
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