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
What an absolute dumb ass.
Too much Justified watching, methinks.
“Who in the world was able to gun down the defendant’s entire family?”
You mistook what the author was saying in his title. Now read it again...
“Family of defendant shot and killed in courtroom plans to appeal judge’s ruling”
The family doesn’t like that the judge ruled the defendent should be shot & killed. So now, they’re appealing the judge’s decision, and hope the defendent will be unkilled.
>>You mistook what the author was saying in his title. Now read it again...<<
You totally missed my point. I hope you are not in “journalism.”
Did he call from hell? Because Mother's Day is always the 2nd Sunday in May and he was killed April 21st, 2014.
I was bothered by the fact that it took government 3 years to release the video. I thought perhaps they were hiding something.
Then I watched the video. Nope, the delay was obviously just more of the usual bureaucratic laziness, too busy watching porn to get the FOIA requests done in a timely fashion.
That's the only thing in this story that actually pisses me off.
Sorry, I should’ve included a smiley face.
:~}
A man might be willing to risk personal injury and wrestle a thug to the floor. A woman will be FAR less likely to want to risk injury or disfigurement. Never frighten an armed woman.
Way,way back in 1969 at Ft Bragg I had a
MP buddy that almost died from a pencil that
a prisoner found in the back seat and stabbed
him in the neck with.
Gets real old hearing these parents of thugs
going on how they were so innocent.
LOL — got it now!!!
:) backatcha
The wasn’t going after the witness to shake hands
I think the officer used her weapon in an outstanding way...and shot to kill.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Wonder if it was a nice tight grouping. >:)
Well, so much for the Samoan mojo. God created men, but Gaston Glock made them equal.
You shoot to end the threat. video is at http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/video-judge-releases-video-of-deadly-courtroom-shooting/1033820024
A friend of mine who was a tanker used to say “shoot it until it changes shape”!
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