Tag Archives: Police

US

Body cam video shows police officer’s fatal shooting of a Black man during a mental health check

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Officer Reynaldo Contreras arrived at the home of Patrick Warren on January 10 after Warren’s family called for psychiatric help.

The police department said in a statement that, upon the officer’s arrival, Warren was “emotionally distressed,” and newly released body camera footage shows the tense moments that led to Contreras firing his weapon at Warren three times.

In the video, Contreras can be seen letting himself into the home after he is told by someone inside to “come on in.” Contreras quickly exits after Warren begins to yell and advance towards him.

Warren can be seen outside a residence advancing toward the officer in the front yard and ignoring verbal commands for him to lie down. After the officer steps backward and continues to issue warnings, like “You’re gonna get tased,” he uses his taser.

Warren initially falls down but then stands back up and continues to push toward the officer. Contreras uses the taser again, but Warren keeps advancing and Contreras deploys his firearm.

Warren, who was 52, was transported to a hospital and succumbed to his injures.

Family lawyer calls it ‘one of the worst officer-involved shootings that I’ve seen’

The family’s lawyer, Lee Merritt, has called for the officer to be fired. “This is one of the worst officer-involved shootings that I’ve seen,” Merritt told reporters earlier this week after the body camera footage was released, according to KWTX.

Merritt did not return calls from CNN Thursday and Friday after the footage was released.

Contreras, a five-year veteran of the department, is on administrative leave, according to the Killeen Police Department. An investigation is underway by the Texas Rangers, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza directed all inquiries to the Texas Rangers.

Police Chief Charles Kimble said this week that Contreras did everything he could to use non-lethal force against Warren before he deployed his firearm.

“I don’t see where he could have done anything else. I saw an officer try to handle a call, de-escalate a call,” Kimble told reporters on Tuesday.

“Given the same set of circumstances, I just don’t know what else we could do,” he added.

Kimble said Contreras had more than the minimum amount of mandated training, but he said the police department was looking at ways to better address psychiatric calls.

On Saturday, January 9, one day before the shooting, the county sent a mental health deputy to Warren’s house. Merritt previously told CNN that the meeting with the county deputy went well. Warren voluntarily went with that deputy to the hospital that night but declined to stay at the hospital for further treatment.

When the family called for another mental health check the next day, a police officer was dispatched. According to Merritt, the family wanted a mental health deputy again, rather than a police officer.

Asked why a police officer was deployed on Sunday, Kimble said the call taker raised concerns about what they heard on the call from the family.

“It was a call for a psychiatric person,” Kimble said. “But as the call taker was listening to the caller, if certain things are said, or certain things are heard, then it prompts a different response…It prompted a police response, and it prompted a response from fire and medics who were standing by.”

CNN has reached out to the Killeen Police Employee Association for comment but has not yet heard back.

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Seattle police chief vows to be tougher on rioters after some crimes not prosecuted

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Seattle police will start cracking down on rioters who damage businesses, the city’s interim police chief warned Saturday.

Chief Adrian Diaz’s pledge came days after anti-Biden rioters left Pike Place Market’s original Starbucks coffee shop with its windows smashed and numerous downtown business owners feeling abandoned by the city, according to reports. 

Like his predecessor, Carmen Best — who departed last September, claiming a lack of support for police from some city officials — Diaz said he doesn’t believe rioters who smash windows and tag businesses are promoting a cause. 

“On January 20th, the events at a variety of locations had no meaning. There was no discussion about what they were fighting for, or what type of social justice message. That cannot happen,” Diaz told reporters at a news conference, according to the Seattle Times.

SEATTLE ANTIFA RIOTER CLAIMS DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY ISN’T VIOLENCE

He added that rioters seeming more focused on “lighting fires” and “breaking windows.”

“These are things we need to work on,” he added.

The first Starbucks location was damaged during an anti-Biden protest in Seattle on Wednesday.
(Seattle Police Department)

On Wednesday, left-wing militants vandalized numerous buildings, used smoke canisters and moved objects into the roadway to create barriers, authorities said. At one point, a group dressed in all black set a large American flag ablaze and smashed several windows. The first Starbucks at the famous Pike Place Market also had its windows smashed. 

BROADCAST NETWORKS BARELY MENTION POST-BIDEN INAUGURATION ANTIFA RIOTS IN PORTLAND, SEATTLE

Three rioters were arrested for crimes that included burglary, assault and property damage. 

“Over Wednesday’s events, it doesn’t matter who is in the presidential office, it really is a matter of understanding that people are just out there for destruction,” Diaz said, Q13 FOX reported. 

While he said around 600 protesters and rioters have been arrested since the unrest started last summer, many of the misdemeanors haven’t been prosecuted mainly out of concern of spreading the coronavirus, the Times reported. 

“I have been in conversation with the city attorney’s office, Pete Holmes, and he will be prosecuting these cases, from now on,” Diaz said. “He has actually allowed us to have the support of his staff, to assist and review of those cases as they occur, so they can be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

SEATTLE ANTIFA RIOTERS DAMAGE FIRST STARBUCKS IN BIDEN PROTEST

However, Holmes, in a statement, said the city attorney’s office wasn’t aware of the new policy and said through a spokesperson that misdemeanor policies would stay the same, the Times reported. 

He said the department will take an especially hard line with vandals arrested more than once.

“When we don’t have any form of accountability for people — and many of them that are coming from outside the city — they will continue to do that destruction, and we can’t have that,” he said.

Downtown residents and business owners had voiced their frustration over the lack of consequences for vandals.

“To me, it’s a complete mystery why we’re not having more response,” Stephanie Tschida, of the East Precinct Advisory Council, told KOMO-TV. 

Diaz’s news conference came before a planned protest at a nearby park that ended up being peaceful.

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He said the new policy would go into effect Saturday.

In September, then-Chief Carmen Best stepped down, following incidents that included a hole being blown into a wall of a police precinct by an explosive device.

“What we saw today was not peaceful,” Best said at the time, according to the Seattle Times. “The rioters had no regard for the public’s safety, for officers’ safety or for the businesses and property that they destroyed.”

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Minnesota man, 25, pleads guilty to role in police precinct fire during George Floyd rioting

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A 25-year-old Minnesota man pleaded guilty Friday after authorities accused him of helping set fire to the Third Precinct headquarters of the Minneapolis Police Department last May.

The May 28 fire occurred during a night of rioting three days after George Floyd died in police custody in the city, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

The blaze caused around $12 million in damage and forced police to work out of temporary space, prosecutors have said, according to FOX 9 in Minneapolis.

The defendant, identified as Devon De-Andre Turner, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit arson. He admitted to district Judge Patrick J. Schiltz that he and another rioter lit an incendiary device that he took inside the precinct to start the fire.

EX-MINNEAPOLIS COP DEREK CHAUVIN TO BE TRIED SEPARATELY IN GEORGE FLOYD CASE

A large crowd had gathered around the building chanting, “Burn it down! Burn it down!”

Turner is one of four defendants who have pleaded guilty to involvement in connection to the fire.

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He is scheduled to be sentenced in May and faces 41 to 51 months in prison, according to FOX 9.

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World

London wedding with 150 guests broken up by police over lockdown violations

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A wedding in London that violated the U.K. lockdown was broken up by police on Thursday night, officials said. 

At first, the Metropolitan Police said that 400 people attended the wedding, but the force later revised the number to 150. 

Currently, a maximum of six guests are allowed to attend weddings and civil partnership ceremonies, according to the U.K. coronavirus lockdown guidance. However, those ceremonies should only happen “in exceptional circumstances,” such as if one partner has a terminal illness. 

Police said they were called to the London neighborhood of Stamford Hill on Thursday night with reports of a large gathering at a school. 

NEW YORK JEWELER SHARES TIFFANY TRUMP ENGAGEMENT RING DETAILS

“The group had gathered for a wedding and had taken a number of steps to mask their activity, covering up windows and closing gates,” Metropolitan Police said in a release. 

The Yesodey Hatorah Secondary Girls School in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London is pictured. Police said that they broke up a wedding attended by 150 people despite a nationwide lockdown at the school Thursday night. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, File)

According to police, the wedding organizer is facing a £10,000 (about $13,685 USD) fine and five other attendees have been given £200 (about $274 USD) “fixed penalty notices.”

WOMAN’S GRANDMOTHERS ARE HER BRIDESMAIDS IN CORONAVIRUS WEDDING

The venue was the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School, a state-funded Orthodox Jewish high school, whose principal died from the coronavirus in April last year.

In a statement, the school said it was “absolutely horrified about last night’s event and condemn(s) it in the strongest possible terms.”

The school said its hall had been leased to an outside organization and “we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place.”

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U.K. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis also condemned the rule-breaking event.

“At a time when we are all making such great sacrifices, it amounts to a brazen abrogation of the responsibility to protect life and such illegal behaviour is abhorred by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community,” he tweeted Friday.

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Pubs, restaurants and entertainment venues in Britain are closed, and people are required to stay largely at home, as part of restrictions to curb a new surge in the virus. The U.K. has recorded more than 95,000 COVID-19 deaths, the highest toll in Europe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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US

Capitol Police investigating after congressman discovered carrying a gun when attempting to go on the House floor

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Rep. Andy Harris, of Maryland, set off a metal detector outside the House floor on Thursday and an officer soon discovered it was because he was carrying a concealed gun on his side, a Capitol official told CNN. The officer sent Harris away, prompting him to ask fellow Republican Rep. John Katko, of New York, to hold his weapon.

According to a press pool report, Katko refused to hold the gun for Harris, saying that he did not have a license. Harris then left the area and returned moments later, walking onto the House floor without setting off the magnetometer.

The Capitol official confirmed to CNN that Harris did not enter the House floor with a weapon. Harris’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Capitol Police officer who saw the gun informed his superiors and the department is investigating the matter, a Capitol Police source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Firearms are banned from Congress except for members, who are granted certain exemptions under a 1967 regulation from the Capitol Police Board, a source confirmed to CNN. Members of Congress are able to carry firearms in the halls of Congress and on Capitol grounds as long as they have Washington licenses and they carry ammunition separately, the source added. Under no circumstances are lawmakers allowed to bring firearms onto the House floor.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday night that “I think a very considerable amount, a lot of members” of the House “still don’t yet feel safe around other members of Congress,” slamming Harris for the incident.

“The moment you bring a gun onto the House floor in violation of rules, you put everyone around you in danger. It is irresponsible, it is reckless, but beyond that it is the violation of rules,” she said.

“You are openly disobeying the rules that we have established as a community, which means that you cannot be trusted to be held accountable to what we’ve decided as a community. And so I don’t really care what they say their intentions are, I care what the impact of their actions are, and the impact is to put all 435 members of Congress in danger.”

Ocasio-Cortez asserted that Harris “tried to hand off his gun to another member who didn’t have a license, and any responsible gun owner knows that you don’t just hand off your gun to another individual, you have to clear it, et cetera.”

“That just goes to show, it doesn’t matter what your intention is if you are irresponsible, if you are trying to break rules, if you’re trying to sneak a firearm onto the floor of the House,” she added. “I don’t care if you accidentally set it off, I don’t care if you intentionally set it off, I don’t care if you don’t set it off at all, you are endangering the lives of members of Congress. And it is absolutely outrageous that we even have to have this conversation.”

The metal detectors were installed last week in the wake of the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, which left five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. While lawmakers from both parties have been annoyed by the long lines the detectors have created during votes, Republicans in particular have complained vociferously and, in some cases, ignored them.

The metal detectors were installed after multiple House Democrats told CNN they were worried about some of their Republican colleagues and after multiple conversations about the need for every member of Congress and their guests to start going through metal detectors, CNN previously reported.

Since the detectors were installed, there have been very few votes on the House floor, so members are still getting used to the new measures.

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who filmed a campaign advertisement vowing to carry her handgun around Capitol Hill prior to arriving in Washington, was also involved in a standoff with Capitol Police at the newly installed metal detectors when trying to get on the floor January 12.

On that same night, GOP Reps. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Steve Womack of Arkansas yelled at Capitol Police when they were forced to go through the detectors. Womack shouted, “I was physically restrained,” and Mullin said, “It’s my constitutional right” to walk through and “they cannot stop me.”

Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, told reporters on January 12, as he passed through the metal detectors to get to the House floor, “This is crap right here. You can put that down. This is the stupidest thing.”

Even some Democrats have been unhappy with the extra security because it has led to longer lines and members being forced to be within 6 feet of one another.

“I’m more likely to die of Covid because I got it from a colleague than I am to die because a colleague shoots me,” Rep. Filemon Vela, a Texas Democrat, told CNN last week.

After the initial criticism from lawmakers, and reports that some refused to stop for Capitol Police after setting off the magnetometers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed a new rule on January 13, imposing stiff fines on members who refused to follow the new security measures: $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second offense. The new rule has not been passed yet and will be considered when floor votes resume in the House in February.

CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.

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US

Anti-government protesters in Portland smash windows, vandalize buildings

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Anti-government protesters smashed windows at Oregon’s Democratic Party headquarters in Portland after gathering for an Inauguration Day rally. 

A group of about 150 people marched to the Democratic Party headquarters on Wednesday afternoon as part of one of four protests taking place in the city.

Although the Portland Police Bureau said two of the protests remained “largely peaceful,” the other two “resulted in property damage and arrests.” Police reported that some of the demonstrators smashed windows and vandalized the Democratic headquarters building, leading officers to make “selective arrests.”

Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen said in a recorded video that eight individuals were arrested, with charges including felony mischief, possession of a destructive device and rioting.

Police recovered several weapons during the protest, including Molotov cocktails, knives, batons, chemical spray and a crowbar.

The crowd was dressed in all black, with several in helmets and body armor, while police officers wore riot gear, the Los Angeles Times reported. The newspaper described the protesters’ political views as “hard to pin down,” noting that they were self-described anarchists and had a banner that said, “We are ungovernable.”

While marching, the anarchists held a banner reading “We don’t want Biden — we want revenge,” referring to President Biden, who was sworn in hours earlier, as well as police killings of citizens. They also chanted “Black Lives Matter,” even though local leaders of the group said they did not want to be associated with the demonstrations. 

Protesters surrounded a man with umbrellas to prevent him from being recognized as he spray painted the building with anti-Biden slogans and drew anarchist symbol on windows and walls, according to the newspaper.

The demonstrators also tipped over garbage containers and lit one of them on fire, The New York Times reported.

A group of 150 people also descended on the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices at 9 p.m., with police saying some had pepper ball guns, electronic control weapons similar to Tasers, shields and rocks, which were thrown at the building.

Portland police said that federal law enforcement worked to disperse that crowd. ICE did not immediately return a request for comment.

The New York Times reported that federal authorities used tear gas and pepper balls to regulate the crowd. 

“As always, we appreciate those who made your voices heard without resorting to criminal activity. We respect the rights of free speech and assembly,” Allen said in a video statement. “Going forward, we will monitor any future events where we have reason to think criminal activity will take place, without regard to the political perspective of those in the gathering.”

The Democratic Party of Oregon said in a statement it was “frustrated and disappointed” by the damage at its headquarters.

“We’re thankful that none of our staff were in the building at the time,” the party said. “This is not the first time our building has been vandalized during the past year — none of the prior incidents have deterred us from our important work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot, and this one will be no different.”

A protest of about 150 people also broke out in Seattle, with some demonstrators smashing windows and spray-painting anarchist symbols, including at a federal courthouse, according to The New York Times. The crowd chanted both anti-Trump and anti-Biden slogans, and a flyer distributed at the protests said, “A Democratic administration is not a victory for oppressed people.”

Portland endured more than 100 nights of consecutive protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. The demonstrations have become less frequent in recent weeks.



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