Jury awards more than $15M to family of unarmed black man killed by SWAT sniper in Fife
Pierce County Metro SWAT assault-team leader Mike Wiley described the police sniper bullet that killed Leonard Thomas on the front porch of his Fife home in 2013, his 4-year-old son clasped in his arms, as a “frickin’ million-dollar shot.”
A unanimous jury in federal court on Friday decided that single .308-caliber round would cost more like $15 million, awarding Thomas’ parents and son one of the largest police deadly force verdicts in state history, against the cities of Lakewood and Fife and several key SWAT officers.
The award included punitive damages totaling $6.5 million: $3 million against Lakewood Chief Mike Zaro, who was the SWAT commander that night; $2 million against Lakewood Sgt. Brian Markert, the sniper who pulled the trigger; and $1.5 million against Wiley, a Lakewood police officer.
The verdict came after a three-week trial in U.S. District Court and more than three days of deliberations. It reflected the seven-member jury’s complete rejection of police claims that Thomas was holding his son hostage or using him as a human shield, or that he posed a threat to officers or himself.
Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/jury-awards-nearly-15m-to-family-of-unarmed-black-man-killed-by-swat-sniper-in-fife/
