Free Republic

Authorities identified the shooter as 73-year-old reserve deputy Robert Bates and said he meant to use his stun gun. Link to article: http://nypost.com/2015/04/13/black-suspect-fatally-shot-after-cop-mistook-gun-for-stun-gun/

Talk about sickeningly misplaced sympathies . . . Waking up to the news that two police officers had been shot during a protest in Ferguson, MO last night, and turning on Morning Joe, I expected the first interviews to be with family members of the wounded policemen, or perhaps with the head of a police organization, condemning the outrage. Instead, there were Al Sharpton, and Marc Morial [of the National Urban League.] And rather than focusing on the wounded policemen, Scarborough's first line to Sharpton painted him as a victim: "this has got to be terribly frustrating to you." Even...

Mayor de Blasio, his wife and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton paid a sympathetic visit to loved ones of slain Officer Rafael Ramos on Monday, as the family prepared for the cop’s funeral. The mayor chatted with Ramos’s relatives on the family porch in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, before stepping inside to visit more mourners for 30 minutes. The trio left without answering any questions from reporters outside, kept at a distance by NYPD guards. On his way out, de Blasio could be heard telling one of Ramos’s loved ones: “I’m sorry for your loss.” The family will hold a wake for...

Hundreds of protesters marched past riot police in Albuquerque on Sunday, days after a YouTube video emerged threatening retaliation for a recent deadly police shooting. The video, which bore the logo of the computer hacking collective Anonymous, warned of a cyberattack on city websites and called for the protest march. Albuquerque police said their site had been breached early Sunday afternoon and remained down hours later. Investigators had not uncovered the source of the hack, police spokesman Simon Drobik said. "We can confirm that the website disruption is due to a cyberattack," he said. The site was not "connected to...

In the 14 months since Stanley Gibson was shot and killed by Metro Police officers, Gibson’s family has struggled with unanswered questions. What was Gibson, a 43-year-old Gulf War veteran allegedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, doing out of the house that fateful December night when police approached him, his older brother Rudy asks. Why did a plan to remove Gibson from his vehicle with beanbag rounds and pepper spray end with him being shot seven times by police officer Jesus Arevalo? And why were police in such a hurry to end the standoff with the unarmed Gibson, whose vehicle...

LITTLE ROCK — An alleged accomplice of Maurice Clemmons, suspected of slaying four Washington state police officers before being gunned down himself, served prison time with Clemmons in Arkansas and is a wanted man in his home state. Washington authorities filed rendering criminal assistance charges today against Darcus D. Allen, the alleged getaway driver for Clemmons, who police say shot to death four police officers early Sunday at a Parkland, Wash., coffee shop. A lone police officer shot Clemmons to death early Tuesday in Seattle while investigating a stolen vehicle. Authorities today pressed charges against others accused of aiding Clemmons’...

When Gov. Ed Rendell was asked this week about Richard Poplawski, who is accused of shooting and killing three Pittsburgh police officers, he said he would sign a death warrant for the 22-year-old Stanton Heights man "without a moment's thought." Today, in a court filing, Mr. Poplawski's attorney said she wants Mr. Rendell to take a few moments to think before he speaks publicly about her client. Lisa G. Middleman, a public defender, is requesting that a judge extend a gag order in the case to the governor and all public officials. "Should the District Attorney of Allegheny County elect...

VIRGINIA BEACH -- The police officer who shot a homeowner last month after another officer broke down the man's door has been cleared of wrongdoing by the commonwealth's attorney. Harvey L. Bryant III said Friday that his investigation into the Feb. 6 shooting determined that Officer Adam R. Perschau, 25, had reason to fear for his own safety when he shot Michael J. Oschmann multiple times at Oschmann's home in the 100 block of N. Birdneck Road. ``I find that the actions taken by Officer Perschau were justified and appropriate under the circumstances,'' Bryant said in a letter to city...

Posted on Mon, Jan. 06, 2003 Federal trial of 11 officers starts today Coverups alleged in several shootingsBY LUISA YANEZlyanez@herald.com The corruption trial of 11 Miami police officers accused of shooting suspects, then planting guns and concocting evidence to cover up wrongdoing is scheduled to start today in Miami federal court with jury selection -- a process expected to last a week.Once evidence begins unfolding, prosecutors and defense attorneys will paint starkly different portraits of the defendants. Prosecutors will try to persuade jurors that the defendants were rogue officers who disregarded the lives of unarmed suspects. Defense attorneys, for...