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Democracy Now! No Charges in Ohio Police Killing of John Crawford...
No Charges in Ohio Police Killing of John Crawford as Wal-Mart Tape Contradicts 911 Caller's Accounthttp://www.democracynow.org/2014/9/25/no_charges_in_ohio_police_killing
Published on Sep 25, 2014
An Ohio grand jury has declined to indict the white police officer who fatally shot John Crawford. A 22-year-old African American, Crawford was killed inside a Wal-Mart store last month after a caller phoned police to accuse him of brandishing a gun and pointing it at other customers. In fact, Crawford had picked up an unloaded BB air rifle on a shelf, an item that is sold in the store. Newly released surveillance footage shows major discrepancies between a 911 caller's account, and what really happened. The Justice Department now says it will launch a federal review to determine if Crawford's civil rights were violated. We are joined by two guests: Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, a national organization that has campaigned for Wal-Mart to release the surveillance tapes, and James Hayes, founding member of the Ohio Student Association, which has been organizing protests over the shooting.
"It's not real."
LeeCee Johnson, who was on the phone with John Crawford—this is the mother of his two children—when police shot him. "It’s not real." Johnson says those were Crawford’s last words.
LeeCee Johnson, who was on the phone with John Crawford—this is the mother of his two children—when police shot him. "It’s not real." Johnson says those were Crawford’s last words.
16 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I'd never heard the term before, but now I think that is exactly what happened in the shooting of John Crawford III. Those itchy-trigger Rambo cops were basically used as efficient tools to murder a young Black man innocently shopping in a lily-white Beavercreek store.
A part of special "prosecutor" Piepmeier's presentation to that Grand Jury included explaining that the cop who provoked unwarranted panic in that Walmart on Aug 5, Sean Williams, had received "special" training just weeks prior to the murder of John Crawford.
Supposedly, Williams had attended a briefing on how to respond when dealing with “active shooter situations” and I believe that both Ohio AG Mike DeWine and Mark Piepmeier knew that making that claim to the members of that jury would assure they'd return a "reasonable" and "justified" decision. That previous little pep talk effectively relieved Sean Williams of any responsibility for his actions or accountability in the shooting homicide of a black man shopping at a Beavercreek Walmart.
Ohio police given 'pep talk' on shooting scenarios ahead of Walmart encounter Thursday 25 September 2014
Sean Williams, who killed John Crawford in store, was among those shown presentation encouraging aggressive action
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/ohio-walmart-police-slideshow-active-shooter-presentation
Surveillance footage shows Sean Williams as he entered the Walmart, just before fatally shooting John Crawford. Photograph: Screengrab of CCTV footage
The police officer who shot dead a young black man in a Walmart store in Ohio as he held an unloaded BB rifle had less than two weeks earlier received what prosecutors called a “pep talk” on how to deal aggressively with suspected gunmen.
Sean Williams and his colleagues in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton, were shown a slideshow invoking their loved ones and the massacres at Sandy Hook, Columbine and Virginia Tech while being trained on 23-24 July on confronting “active shooter situations”.
“If not you, then who?” officers were asked by the presentation, alongside a photograph of young students being led out of Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012. A caption reminded the trainees that 20 children and five adults were killed before police arrived.
Williams shot dead John Crawford III 12 days later, after a 911 caller repeatedly said that Crawford was pointing a gun at Walmart customers, including children. Surveillance footage released on Thursday showed Crawford passing shoppers with the air rifle at his side.
A set of 11 slides from a presentation given to officers in the July session was made public by special prosecutor Mark Piepmeier, who presented the slides and other evidence to a grand jury in Greene County, which on Wednesday declined to indict Williams on criminal charges.
Sean Williams, who killed John Crawford in store, was among those shown presentation encouraging aggressive action
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/ohio-walmart-police-slideshow-active-shooter-presentation
Surveillance footage shows Sean Williams as he entered the Walmart, just before fatally shooting John Crawford. Photograph: Screengrab of CCTV footage
The police officer who shot dead a young black man in a Walmart store in Ohio as he held an unloaded BB rifle had less than two weeks earlier received what prosecutors called a “pep talk” on how to deal aggressively with suspected gunmen.
Sean Williams and his colleagues in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton, were shown a slideshow invoking their loved ones and the massacres at Sandy Hook, Columbine and Virginia Tech while being trained on 23-24 July on confronting “active shooter situations”.
“If not you, then who?” officers were asked by the presentation, alongside a photograph of young students being led out of Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012. A caption reminded the trainees that 20 children and five adults were killed before police arrived.
Williams shot dead John Crawford III 12 days later, after a 911 caller repeatedly said that Crawford was pointing a gun at Walmart customers, including children. Surveillance footage released on Thursday showed Crawford passing shoppers with the air rifle at his side.
A set of 11 slides from a presentation given to officers in the July session was made public by special prosecutor Mark Piepmeier, who presented the slides and other evidence to a grand jury in Greene County, which on Wednesday declined to indict Williams on criminal charges.
After finally getting to view the surveillance footage (synced by the FBI with the 911 Call made by Ronald Richie), I believe that Ronald Ritchie's lies were the fatal spark in this entire conflagration which ended with John Crawford's death. Whether it was "swatting" or not, his false report of a threatening black man wildly waving a rifle around in that store led to Crawford's murder.
Doubts cast on witness's account of black man killed by police in Walmart Sunday 7 September 2014
Alleged to have threatened customers, John Crawford, 22, was having a phone conversation while holding an unloaded BB gun
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/07/ohio-black-man-killed-by-police-walmart-doubts-cast-witnesss-account
When Ronald Ritchie called 911 from the aisles of a Walmart in western Ohio last month to report that a black man was “walking around with a gun in the store”, he said that shoppers were coming under direct threat.
“He’s, like, pointing it at people,” Ritchie told the dispatcher. Later that evening, after John Crawford III had been shot dead by one of the police officers who hurried to the scene in Beavercreek, Ritchie repeated to reporters: “He was pointing at people. Children walking by.”
One month later, Ritchie puts it differently. “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” the 24-year-old said, in an interview with the Guardian. He maintained that Crawford was “waving it around”, which attorneys for Crawford’s family deny.
Ritchie told several reporters after the 5 August shooting that he was an “ex-marine”. When confronted with his seven-week service record, however, he confirmed that he had been quickly thrown out of the US marine corps in 2008 after being declared a “fraudulent enlistment”, over what he maintains was simply a mixup over his paperwork.
Crawford, 22, turned out to be holding an unloaded BB air rifle that he had picked up from a store shelf. After Ritchie said Crawford appeared to be “trying to load” the gun, the 911 dispatcher relayed to an officer that it was believed the gunman “just put some bullets inside”.
Alleged to have threatened customers, John Crawford, 22, was having a phone conversation while holding an unloaded BB gun
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/07/ohio-black-man-killed-by-police-walmart-doubts-cast-witnesss-account
When Ronald Ritchie called 911 from the aisles of a Walmart in western Ohio last month to report that a black man was “walking around with a gun in the store”, he said that shoppers were coming under direct threat.
“He’s, like, pointing it at people,” Ritchie told the dispatcher. Later that evening, after John Crawford III had been shot dead by one of the police officers who hurried to the scene in Beavercreek, Ritchie repeated to reporters: “He was pointing at people. Children walking by.”
One month later, Ritchie puts it differently. “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” the 24-year-old said, in an interview with the Guardian. He maintained that Crawford was “waving it around”, which attorneys for Crawford’s family deny.
Ritchie told several reporters after the 5 August shooting that he was an “ex-marine”. When confronted with his seven-week service record, however, he confirmed that he had been quickly thrown out of the US marine corps in 2008 after being declared a “fraudulent enlistment”, over what he maintains was simply a mixup over his paperwork.
Crawford, 22, turned out to be holding an unloaded BB air rifle that he had picked up from a store shelf. After Ritchie said Crawford appeared to be “trying to load” the gun, the 911 dispatcher relayed to an officer that it was believed the gunman “just put some bullets inside”.
(Graphic Video)
Walmart surveillance tape shows Police shooting & killing John Crawford III, 9-1-1 call
