Posted on 03/14/2018 12:26:25 PM PDT by Simon Green
After four years of waiting, a video of a controversial courtroom shooting will be released. The decision came on the same day that a judge ruled against Siale Angilau's family, who sued the U.S. marshal who shot and killed him in 2014. The family said they plan on appealing the decision.
Witnesses in the courtroom on April 21, 2014 said a man was testifying about the Tongan Crip Gang when Angilau, the defendant, grabbed a pen and ran toward the witness box. A female U.S. marshal shot Angilau four times, fatally wounding him.
"Why did they have to shoot him like that? He's not an animal. If they shot him once, he would have stopped. But they shot him four times," said Otufangavalu Angilau, Siale's mother.
She said Siale was close to completing his prison sentence for charges of federal racketeering associated with his ties to a Tongan crip gang. She said he wanted to turn his life around, but he never got that chance.
"I remember the last day he called me. It was Mother's Day 2014 and he sent me a scarf. He said, 'Mom. I'll be home soon,'" said Otufangavalu Angilau.
The civil lawsuit filed by the parents of Siale Angilau claimed that marshal was negligent and used excessive force. Siale's sister, Tolina Katoa said she believes race was a factor in how everything played out.
"They wouldn't have shot him if he was a white man. If he was white, they would have tackled him, tased, or use that special training that I know they are trained with," said Katoa.
Otufangavalu Angilau said there's still so many questions in her son's death that it feels like her family doesn't deserve answers.
"As a brown person, it feels like they think, 'Oh, they're dumb. They're poor. They cannot do anything,'" said Siale's mother.
Angilau's family said they felt like the media portrayed Siale as a monster. They want the public to know that he was a good person.
"Honestly, Siale would give his shirt to anybody if they needed. He was that type. His stature was big, but that's just because he had a big heart," said Katoa.
"He's a good boy. No matter what people think, he's a good boy," said Siale's mother.
On Friday, the court ruled to release the courtroom video to the media, the same day it ruled against the Angilau's family lawsuit.
"It was a motion for summary judgment brought by the federal government against my clients saying, 'There's no triable issue here,'" said Robert Sykes, Angilau family's attorney. "The general rule is that deadly force cannot be used unless the officer or some other person is in immediate danger of death or serious bodily injury. The witness that Siale was attacking had slipped out the back of the witness box. He wasn't at risk. The deputy wasn't at risk. There were lots of other people. He didn't need to be killed. I think that was excessive force."
Sykes said he finds it suspicious that it took approximately three years to obtain the courtroom video of the shooting.
"I think they're hiding something. Now I don't know that for sure. I put out, I think it was 23 inquiries. I asked the federal court in SLC, I asked the FBI, I asked the U.S. marshal service, I asked the Department of Justice, and I sent out FOIA requests," said Sykes. "The only response I ever had was, 'We're working on your request.' That's it. It's the only response I ever had. They never gave me anything until the court compelled them to. Still to this day, we have not seen any written reports of this."
Sykes said he and the family have 30 days to decide if they will appeal the judge's decision. Angilau's family said they plan on appealing it.
Katoa said the lawsuit is not about money, but bringing closure for her parents.
"All our mom and dad want is an apology, face-to-face," said Katoa.
Katoa said they will not stop until they can bring justice to Siale.
"We're going to keep fighting. We're going to make sure that marshal's brought to justice," said Katoa
>>Whoever wrote the headline should not be allowed to live by the pen.<<
I think their description of the family described their perspective completely.
;)
This article was full of the standard cliches, i.e. he was a good boy, getting his life together etc. It could be from the Onion. I would to know more about this special training the court officers have that they only use on white people.
Did I get in B4 the “he was an aspiring rapper and about to drop a mix-tape” post?
Some ambulance chasers are giving her a crash course on pushing all of the victim hood buttons. They smell a big payday , which would never happen in a sane society. Unfortunately.........
I’d bet you are right. She didn’t learn all those code words all by herself.
, grabbed a pen and ran toward the witness box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here in America, we don’t allow witnesses to be attacked in court.
Found out the hard way.
Not a good life choice..........
Pig pen?
Protect and serve....
Take out the trash....
Naw..you got in before..he had turned his life around and had wanted to be a Congressman..or a Senator.
I do not think the writer would appreciate capital PUNishment, but he is deservedly subject to it.
Why are we importing idiots such as these? We don’t have enough home grown idiots?
He was still overqualified for those jobs on the character front.
” Why did they have to shoot him like that? “
hmmmm...
Could it be that he was trying to KILL someone ?
There you go. The son was a hardened criminal because the mother is a thoroughly despicable person and inflicted him on us. Hopefully she is deportable.
One doesn’t mess with Pacific Islanders. Even if they’re church going. They don’t forget & they don’t forgive.
He thought that Samoan baloney would fly in a western states courtroom. He was wrong.
Bullcrap. He did that Samoan crap, and was stabbing at the witness on the stand. I cannot think of a single reason his life was more important than deputies getting injured or stabbed subduing him.
No different than shooting a wild animal.
In a courtroom... in spades.
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