Retaliation Watch: Harris County Deputy shot and killed ambush style

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  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/darren-goforth-killing-sheriff-cites-black-lives-matter-movement/
    Sheriff links "Black Lives Matter" movement to slain deputy

    After a white Houston sheriff's deputy was ambushed and fatally shot by a black man at a gas station, the sheriff linked the killing to heightened tension over the treatment of African-Americans by police, citing the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

    Shannon J. Miles, whose criminal record includes convictions for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm, was to be arraigned Monday in the shooting of Darren Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Miles' arrest Saturday came less than 24 hours after authorities said he ambushed Goforth at a suburban Houston Chevron station.

    Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said the attack was "clearly unprovoked," and there is no evidence that Goforth knew Miles. Investigators have no information from Miles that would shed light on his motive, Hickman said.

    "Our assumption is that he (Goforth) was a target because he wore a uniform," the sheriff said.

    Hickman and Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson pushed back against the criticism of police.

    "We've heard Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too," Hickman said Saturday.

    The nationwide "Black Lives Matter" movement that formed after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri has sought sweeping reforms of policing. Related protests erupted in Texas recently after a 28-year-old Chicago-area black woman, Sandra Bland, was found dead in a county jail about 50 miles northwest of Houston three days after her arrest on a traffic violation. Texas authorities said she committed suicide but her family is skeptical of that.

    Deray McKesson, a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, told the Houston Chronicle: "It is unfortunate that Sheriff Hickman has chosen to politicize this tragedy and to attribute the officer's death to a movement that seeks to end violence."

    A prayer walk in Goforth's honor drew hundreds of people Sunday evening. As the group marched through the streets escorted by law enforcement vehicles, traffic in the opposite lanes came to a halt, video from news helicopters showed. Onlookers stood along the road, some waving American flags and others snapping photos.

    "All lives matter," Cheryl Scott told CBS affiliate KHOU in Houston. "It just happened to be in my back yard, so I'm going to do something about it. All these people are going to do something about it."

    Miles had a lengthy criminal record going back a decade, but never spent more than short stints in jail.

    Miles' criminal record begins in 2005, when he was convicted of criminal mischief, giving false information to police and resisting arrest, according to records. In 2006, he was convicted of disorderly conduct with a firearm and sentenced to a maximum of 15 days in jail. He was convicted of evading arrest in 2007, and his most recent conviction came in 2009 for again resisting arrest.

    KHOU reports at least one of those arrests involved violence against a Harris County deputy previously.

    Records show that the 30-year-old Houston resident was sentenced to several short stints in jail, anywhere from 10 to six days.

    Court and jail records did not list an attorney for Miles and attempts to reach his family members on Sunday were unsuccessful.

    Goforth, 47, was pumping gas at a Chevron station Friday night in Cypress, a middle- to upper-middle-class suburban area of Harris County located northwest of Houston, when the gunman approached him from behind and fired multiple shots, continuing to fire after the deputy had fallen to the ground.

    A Houston-based nonprofit group called the 100 Club, which supports the families of firefighters and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, is providing Goforth's wife with $20,000, and additional support, up to $300,000, could be provided to his family depending on their needs after an assessment is completed, the organization said.

    At a vigil at the gas station Saturday night, members of the community were joined by law enforcement officers. Goforth's wife, Kathleen, released a statement to Houston television station KPRC-TV that said her husband was "ethical; the right thing to do is what guided his internal compass."

    This is not the first time the issues of racial tension and anti-police sentiment have emerged following a fatal shooting of an officer. Authorities said the man who ambushed and killed two NYPD cops in Brooklyn last year made online posts that were "very anti-police" and cited Ferguson. The suspect, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, wrote on an Instagram account: "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs." He used the hashtags Shootthepolice RIPErivGardner (sic) RIPMikeBrown.
  • blackamerica
    blackamerica Members Posts: 2,897 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2015
    I'm actually in Texas, and let me tell you its no bargaining with these ppl man. We mine as well change our approach. The majority of the comments are "this is Obama's fault" & "let's show these THUGS cops lives matter too". They have absolutely no idea whats behind these NATIONWIDE protest against police brutality. I read some white dude said " if you don't act like THUGS & criminals then you won't get treated like one". But Tamir Rice, John Crawford & Trayvon Martin weren't criminals and police still killed them smh. It's reaching a boiling point where a resolution may not be reachable. The thing is I feel black ppl have more evidence of violence from cops than the other way around
  • Maximus Rex
    Maximus Rex Members Posts: 6,354 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2015
    But Tamir Rice, John Crawford & Trayvon Martin weren't criminals and police still killed them smh. It's reaching a boiling point where a resolution may not be reachable. The thing is I feel black ppl have more evidence of violence from cops than the other way around

    Trayvon Martin wasn't killed by a cop. However, Akai Gurley was. His crime, was scaring the ? out of scary ass ? punk ass cop who popped him as he was literally coming down a project staircase.

    Cop involved in fatal shooting of Akai Gurley has been indicted on manslaughter charges: source

    Rookie cop Peter Liang was indicted Tuesday by a Brooklyn grand jury for the deadly shooting in November in an unlit stairwell in the Pink Houses, the Daily News has learned. He'll face criminal charges that can send him to prison for up to 15 years.


    gurley29n-6-web.jpg
    Akai Gurley, 28, was unarmed when he was fatally shot by a NYPD cop in an unlit stairwell in the Pink Houses.

    In a blockbuster grand jury decision, Peter Liang will face criminal charges that can send him to prison for up to 15 years for the death of Akai Gurley on Nov. 20, a source said.

    The secret panel started hearing the case on Feb 4. A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney declined to comment.

    A source said Liang, 27, was indicted for a top count second-degree manslaughter, which means he acted recklessly. He was also charged with reckless endangerment, second-degree assault and official misconduct, another source said.

    “I’m glad the grand jury looked at the evidence and returned an indictment,” Kimberly Ballinger, the victim’s domestic partner and mother of his 2-year-old daughter, told The News.

    “I am happy, I have faith in the Brooklyn District Attorney and I thank him.”

    Liang discharged one bullet when patrolling the stairways of the Pink Houses in East New York, striking the 28-year-old Gurley in the chest as the man stood in the landing a floor below next to his girlfriend.

    The probationary officer, who’s been on the force for less than 18 months, was allegedly holding a flashlight in one hand and clutched a 9-mm Glock in his left hand, which he also used to open a door when the gun fired.

    The News reported that Liang and his partner did not answer the radio in the six-plus minutes right after the shooting and instead texted their union delegates.

    DA Kenneth Thompson had obtained indictments in recent months against three cops in two different incidents involving alleged assaults during arrests.

    Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch called for due process.

    “The fact the he was assigned to patrol one of the most dangerous housing projects in New York City must be considered among the circumstances of this tragic accident,” he said of the officer.

    “I’m sad that he was indicted,” said Ed Mullins, President of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. "I don’t know exactly what transpired in that hallway, but I believe it’s a truly accidental incident.”


    follow-fatal-nypd-shooting-akai-gurley.jpg
    Gurley was struck on Nov. 20, 2014 at the Pink Houses in East New York.

    Liang is expected to turn himself in Wednesday morning ahead of his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court. He will appear in front of Justice Danny Chun.

    The Rev. Al Sharpton said he and Gurley’s relatives “are pleased that the process will now allow for a fair and impartial hearing.”

    Ballinger had previously announced her intention to sue the city for $50 million. She, her lawyer Scott Rynecki and Sharpton all lavished praise on Thompson and the panelists.

    “This is the first step in the fight for justice for this wrongful and reckless shooting,” Rynecki said.

    “The effort to strengthen the relationship between the police and the community necessarily involves holding an officer accountable when an innocent life is taken and a law is broken,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “The indictment is a meaningful step in the right direction in the march toward justice for the family of Akai Gurley.”

    Mayor de Blasio said: “No matter the specific charges, this case is an unspeakable tragedy for the Gurley family. We urge everyone to respect the judicial process as it unfolds."


    article-gurley-0211.jpg?enlarged
    Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins responded to news of the indictment, ‘I’m sad that he was indicted. I don’t know exactly what transpired in that hallway, but I believe it’s a truly accidental incident.

    The closely watched case came after grand juries in Missouri and Staten Island declined in recent months to file charges against police officers accused of killing unarmed black men.

    The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner sparked a national protest movement and calls for reform.

    In sharp contrast to the grand juries in those cases, which heard from dozens of witnesses over weeks, the panel that indicted Liang only heard evidence for a few days — the norm in nearly all grand jury proceedings.

    In another distinction from the Garner case, where the officer accused of putting the father-of-six in a chokehold before he died testified in front of the grand jury, Liang did not take the stand, a source said.

    “Unlike the case in Staten Island, this case shows the difference in a prosecutor who will respect the grand jury's role to decide probable cause, rather than attempt to influence it,” Sharpton said.

    He disagreed with the characterization of the young officer as a scapegoat amid a charged, anti-police atmosphere.

    “I don't think that he's a sacrificial lamb since a jury will decide his fate," Sharpton told the News. "If anything, Gurley was a sacrificial lamb in a program of vertical policing that we have strongly opposed."






  • Inglewood_B
    Inglewood_B Members Posts: 12,246 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2015
    Edit: tried to gather appropriate number of ? to give. Failed.
  • brown321
    brown321 Members Posts: 1,439 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Cracks shot a cop in my area and they aren't blaming all white folks yet.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Regulator
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  • stringer bell
    stringer bell Members Posts: 26,212 ✭✭✭✭✭
    http://www.phillytrib.com/black-lives-matter-didn-t-? -anyone/article_540040dc-84eb-5e80-90cd-5b0826290dc4.html?mode=jqm
    Black Lives Matter didn't ? anyone

    Sheila Simmons | Posted 17 hours ago

    African Americans have endured the heavy hands of non-African Americans since slavery. We have lifted our voices in hope, and now need to lift them with strong demands for opportunity and advancement.

    Because of our experiences, other races are not qualified to speak for or think for Black people. And, that includes one sheriff’s response to the motive behind the slaying of a deputy sheriff and 47-year-old father of two in suburban Houston last Friday.

    While saying, “We have not been able to extract any details regarding a motive at this point,” Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman nevertheless volunteered one. He blamed rhetoric from the Black Lives Matter movement.

    “At any point when the rhetoric ramps up to the point where calculated, cold-blooded assassinations of police officers happen, this rhetoric has gotten out of control,” said the sheriff. “We’ve heard ‘Black lives matter.’ All lives matter. Well, cops’ lives matter, too. So why don’t we just drop the qualifier and just say ‘lives matter,’ and take that to the bank.”

    The sheriff got ahead of himself with own rhetoric and speculation. Little hurts an investigation more than jumping to a conclusion that then poison the waters from which actual evidence and witness accounts must be cleanly drawn.

    Also worth noting is that the intent of the Black Lives Matter movement was never to discount other lives, or to call for their violent execution.

    The point of singling out “Black” lives in the Black Lives Matter movement was to bring attention to the historic omission of Black lives from the ones whose safety police were sworn to protect, or the court system that was designed to fairly distribute justice.

    Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson’s call for the “silent majority” to rise in support of law enforcement rings a bit like a dog whistle for the “take-back-our-country types.”

    Anderson argued that, “There are a few bad apples in every profession. That does not mean that there should be open warfare declared on law enforcement.”

    Well, the relatives of more than a few Black people — particularly Black males like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice — might say the same.

  • 5th Letter
    5th Letter Members, Moderators, Writer Posts: 37,068 Regulator
    How is BLM responsible for random shootings? That's the dumbest thing I read

    BlackLivesMatter is code word for black people or you ? .
  • Brother_Five
    Brother_Five Members Posts: 4,448 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Overall, though, statistics suggest that being a police officer has gotten much safer over the past few decades. While the FBI reported this year that the number of officers killed in the line of duty nearly doubled last year over the year before — rising to 51 — that number still dramatically falls below what the country saw in previous decades.

    [Officers often lack the training to approach the mentally unstable, experts say]

    About 50 police officers have been fatally shot on average each year over the past decade, and that number has fallen by more than half since the 1970s, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. In addition, federal statistics show that the uptick in 2014 came after a year with the fewest officers killed in the line of duty (27) in any year since 1980.

    Still, interviews this year with current and retired law enforcement officers, as well as their family members, show that the sustained protests over deaths at the hands of police have left many officers feeling assailed.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/06/30/fewer-police-officers-shot-and-killed-over-first-half-of-2015-than-2014/