Black Alabama man killed by pig.. Update:Bama pig charged w/ murder..
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http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/blogs/moonblog/2016/03/01/council-meeting-halted-gunn-protest/81153098/Council meeting halted by Gunn protest
Protesters interrupt City Council meeting over Greg Gunn shooting
The Montgomery City Council abruptly adjourned its meeting Tuesday night after protesters — many of whom were holding “Black Lives Matter” signs — continuously interrupted the proceedings.
The protest consisted of approximately a dozen people, primarily women, and was in response to the recent Montgomery Police shooting of Greg Gunn, an unarmed black man who was shot in his neighbor’s front yard last Thursday morning.
“It is a travesty that this council can go on as if nothing happened, without even acknowledging (Gunn’s) death, his murder,” said Karen Jones, a local activist who led the group of protesters.
Jones began her protests shortly after the start of the meeting, as Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange began his opening remarks. Jones, holding a “Black Lives Matter sign, stood in front of the lectern where Strange was speaking and refused to move until two uniformed MPD officers escorted her away.
“I was going to ask if we could have a moment of … reflection for (Gunn),” Strange said, after Jones was removed. Several seconds of silence followed.
It did not calm the situation. Several agenda items were for the approval or expansion of business licenses provided to establishments that sell alcohol. By rule of the council, those approvals have to be put up for public comment and any proposal that draws a comment against it must wait an additional two weeks so the council members can study both sides of the issue.
After each applicant spoke, Jones responded to the call of council president Charles Jinright for anyone “who wishes to speak against this proposal.” In each instance, she tied her objection to the death of Gunn.
Jones objected to the approval of a liquor license for Osaka Sushi Bar because it sold alcohol and “we’re not sure yet if the person who shot Greg Gunn was possibly ? at the time. We don’t need to take the chance.”
There were similar objections to a Super Stop convenience store liquor license and to one for Bye Bye Place.
Councilman Fred Bell refused to vote to suspend the rules and avoid the mandatory two-week waiting period required by Jones’ objections. “I fear this city is in bad shape and we need to consider what’s going on,” Bell said.
At one point, Jinright and the other council members attempted to adjourn without holding a meeting but were told that, according to the Open Meetings Act laws in Alabama, the scheduled meeting had to proceed.
“I am sympathetic to what has happened,” said councilman David Burkette, who represents the district in which Gunn was killed. “Greg Gunn was my friend. We grew up playing ball together. We went to school together. We were in the same fraternity together. So, this hits home to me.
“But at the same time, nothing is accomplished by doing this here tonight. It’s just disruptive and hurtful to people who had nothing to do with Greg’s death. And it doesn’t help the cause even a little. It’s cartoonish, what happened here, and I’ll leave it at that.”
One of the few meaningful items that managed to pass on Tuesday was a proposal by councilman Tracy Larkin that establishes a revitalization plan for Montgomery. According to the proposal, properties that have been abandoned for more than three years and have a number of tax liens against them can be obtained by qualified developers in exchange for their agreement to rehabilitate the properties within a certain time frame.
“Basically, someone can come in here and take these rundown properties and purchase them for a small amount — $100, $200 — and fix them up,” Larkin said. “It will make a tremendous difference in the blight you see all around this city. It’s the first step in repairing these neighborhoods.”
Like Burkette, Larkin was no fan of the protest at Tuesday’s meeting, calling it disruptive and unhelpful. He praised Strange, MPD Chief Ernest Finley and the progress made over the last several years between City Hall and the black communities.
“I am of the opinion that we are not necessarily benefiting from the bombastic displays, such as what happened tonight,” Larkin said. “I understand that people are angry, and I am angry as well, but I’m not sure how far we can get by blaming people who are attempting to make a difference. Mayor Strange and Chief Finley have been responsive to the various communities in this city, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes. We need to have some honest discussions about race — honest on both sides — and all of us admit some tough things about ourselves. What happened tonight wasn’t that.”
The council adjourned during the public comments portion of the agenda, when Jones began interrupting John Da’Voe, another local activist who recently ran for mayor of the city. During Da’Voe’s time at the lectern, another local activist, Jamel Brown, knelt on one knee between Da’Voe and the council members and prayed. -
http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2016/03/montgomery_police_officer_char_1.htmlMontgomery police officer charged with murder in fatal shooting of Gregory Gunn
The Montgomery police officer who fatally shot Gregory Gunn in the early morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 25 is charged with murder.
Officer Aaron C. Smith, 23, was arrested today, and his bond was set at $150,000, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey said, during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
"SBI and I agreed at the beginning of this investigation that this case would be treated as any other case," Bailey said. "We agreed that if there were probable cause that a crime had been committed then an arrest would be made. After meeting extensively with SBI agents, we have concluded that probable cause exists to make an arrest in this case."
He said the arrest isn't an indictment, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Smith was released on bond shortly after being booked into the Montgomery County Detention Facility on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith is white and had been a Montgomery police officer since 2012.
Gunn was fatally shot on Feb. 25 at around 3:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of McElvey Street in the west Montgomery neighborhood of Mobile Heights.
Last week, Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley said the incident began after an officer stopped to talk to a "suspicious" person, later identified as Gunn, and an altercation ensued. It was initially reported Gunn was armed with a painting pole or stick.
It's unclear now why Gunn was deemed suspicious, or if he was really armed with a stick.
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said today that termination proceedings have begun against Smith.
Residents of the Mobile Heights neighborhood reported hearing multiple gunshots and Gunn calling for his mother.
Gunn, who is black, grew up in the neighborhood where he was shot. At the time of the shooting, he was living with his mother following a divorce.
Some community members had called for action, some even asking for white police officers not to patrol in black neighborhoods, following the shooting.
About a dozen protesters caused Tuesday night's Montgomery City Council meeting to adjourn early.
Local attorney Tyrone Means, who represents the Gunn family, told the Associated Press that Gunn attended a regular card game with friends Wednesday night after he got off work. Gunn frequently walked from his friend's house to his home a few blocks away, where he lived with his mother.
"Trayvon Martin was a black kid walking in a predominantly white neighborhood, and someone just thought he looked suspicious," Means said. "Greg Gunn was in a community in which he was well-known and well-loved. That's scary."
Today, Bailey said many members of the community are sharing rumors online and with the media, but he declined to dispel those rumors.
"I can assure you that most of the things you have heard reported by the news and on social media are completely untrue," he said. "The facts will come out in the court of law."
Bailey asked the community to stand behind the police department.
"I want to be crystal clear that the arrest warrant secured against Officer Smith is in no way an indictment against the Montgomery Police Department," he said. "In fact, 99.9 percent of the officers at the Montgomery Police Department do an exceptional job on a daily basis making sure that our citizens are protected. They are in fact the thin line between order and chaos. I encourage this community to rally around the police at this time and let them know that they are appreciated. This is an isolated incident that will be dealt with, as it should be, in the criminal justice system."
Strange said he had asked the State Bureau of Investigation to expedite the investigation into the shooting.
"We cooperated fully (with the SBI investigation)," Strange said today, during a press conference. "We will continue to cooperate fully as it moves forward."
He said Montgomery police didn't investigate the shooting. The scene was isolated, and the investigation immediately handed over to the State Bureau of Investigation.
No details of the case, including what may or may not be on the officer's body camera were released to Strange, Finley or Montgomery Department of Public Safety Director Chris Murphy, Strange said.
"This is a time of grief for the Gunn family as they prepare to lay a loved one to rest," Strange added later. "It is also a challenging time for MPD ...."
He said hopes to speak with Gunn's mother and to offer his condolences.
In an early Friday morning press conference, Finley said the incident began when the officer noticed a suspicious looking man, later identified as Gunn, walking on McElvey Street. The officer stopped to talk to him, Finley said.
That's when a struggle between the officer and the man occurred, he said. The struggle lasted for about a block before the officer fired a shot at the man and killed him.
Finley said at the time, Gunn was believed to have been armed with a painting pole or stick.
Yes... -
Will he be indicted though?
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If never fails.. Smh at that low ass bail... -
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After the officer engaged the subject, the two struggled for about a block before the officer fired, shot and killed the subject, according to Finley.
How the ? can you be engaged in a "struggle" for "about a block???" He was being chased. Do they even stop to consider how this ? sounds? -
There always has to been that one ? .. Smh...
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White cop Arrested? Somebody @ the Asian community
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According to Holmes, he reached out to the Director of Public Safety, Chris Murphy. He says Murphy told him the body camera the officer was wearing malfunctioned.
“They admit he had a body camera on him, but he said at the time of the shooting took place the body camera malfunctioned,” Holmes said. “In my opinion, what they have done is erased the recording off the camera that is a criminal offense within itself.”
stringer bell wrote: »http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2016/03/montgomery_police_officer_char_1.htmlMontgomery police officer charged with murder in fatal shooting of Gregory Gunn
The Montgomery police officer who fatally shot Gregory Gunn in the early morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 25 is charged with murder.
Officer Aaron C. Smith, 23, was arrested today, and his bond was set at $150,000, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey said, during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
"SBI and I agreed at the beginning of this investigation that this case would be treated as any other case," Bailey said. "We agreed that if there were probable cause that a crime had been committed then an arrest would be made. After meeting extensively with SBI agents, we have concluded that probable cause exists to make an arrest in this case."
He said the arrest isn't an indictment, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Smith was released on bond shortly after being booked into the Montgomery County Detention Facility on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith is white and had been a Montgomery police officer since 2012.
Gunn was fatally shot on Feb. 25 at around 3:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of McElvey Street in the west Montgomery neighborhood of Mobile Heights.
Last week, Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley said the incident began after an officer stopped to talk to a "suspicious" person, later identified as Gunn, and an altercation ensued. It was initially reported Gunn was armed with a painting pole or stick.
It's unclear now why Gunn was deemed suspicious, or if he was really armed with a stick.
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said today that termination proceedings have begun against Smith.
Residents of the Mobile Heights neighborhood reported hearing multiple gunshots and Gunn calling for his mother.
Gunn, who is black, grew up in the neighborhood where he was shot. At the time of the shooting, he was living with his mother following a divorce.
Some community members had called for action, some even asking for white police officers not to patrol in black neighborhoods, following the shooting.
About a dozen protesters caused Tuesday night's Montgomery City Council meeting to adjourn early.
Local attorney Tyrone Means, who represents the Gunn family, told the Associated Press that Gunn attended a regular card game with friends Wednesday night after he got off work. Gunn frequently walked from his friend's house to his home a few blocks away, where he lived with his mother.
"Trayvon Martin was a black kid walking in a predominantly white neighborhood, and someone just thought he looked suspicious," Means said. "Greg Gunn was in a community in which he was well-known and well-loved. That's scary."
Today, Bailey said many members of the community are sharing rumors online and with the media, but he declined to dispel those rumors.
"I can assure you that most of the things you have heard reported by the news and on social media are completely untrue," he said. "The facts will come out in the court of law."
Bailey asked the community to stand behind the police department.
"I want to be crystal clear that the arrest warrant secured against Officer Smith is in no way an indictment against the Montgomery Police Department," he said. "In fact, 99.9 percent of the officers at the Montgomery Police Department do an exceptional job on a daily basis making sure that our citizens are protected. They are in fact the thin line between order and chaos. I encourage this community to rally around the police at this time and let them know that they are appreciated. This is an isolated incident that will be dealt with, as it should be, in the criminal justice system."
Strange said he had asked the State Bureau of Investigation to expedite the investigation into the shooting.
"We cooperated fully (with the SBI investigation)," Strange said today, during a press conference. "We will continue to cooperate fully as it moves forward."
He said Montgomery police didn't investigate the shooting. The scene was isolated, and the investigation immediately handed over to the State Bureau of Investigation.
No details of the case, including what may or may not be on the officer's body camera were released to Strange, Finley or Montgomery Department of Public Safety Director Chris Murphy, Strange said.
"This is a time of grief for the Gunn family as they prepare to lay a loved one to rest," Strange added later. "It is also a challenging time for MPD ...."
He said hopes to speak with Gunn's mother and to offer his condolences.
In an early Friday morning press conference, Finley said the incident began when the officer noticed a suspicious looking man, later identified as Gunn, walking on McElvey Street. The officer stopped to talk to him, Finley said.
That's when a struggle between the officer and the man occurred, he said. The struggle lasted for about a block before the officer fired a shot at the man and killed him.
Finley said at the time, Gunn was believed to have been armed with a painting pole or stick.
Yes...
He look pure evil...... -
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-shooting-recalls-previous-tensions-montgomery-37362339Defense Lawyer: Rush to Judgment in Alabama Police Shooting
Officer Aaron Smith is the white son of a retired ranking Montgomery police official, and Gregory Gunn was a black man neighbors knew for working hard and walking everywhere he went.
Their lives intersected early one morning last week, and Gunn lay dead after a hail of gunfire — a shooting that recalled tense times years ago when Montgomery police were continually at odds with the city's black community.
Now, with Gunn dead amid a national debate over police violence in minority communities, Smith's lawyer argues the career of an innocent young officer is being sacrificed to quell unrest in a city that doesn't want a repeat of its past, or fiery protests like those in Ferguson, Missouri.
"It simply boils down to a political calculation to placate activists, to prevent another Ferguson," defense attorney Mickey McDermott said in an interview Thursday. "That's just the world we're living in now."
Mayor Todd Strange didn't return a message seeking comment on McDermott's claims.
But District Attorney Daryl Bailey has said the 23-year-old Smith was arrested because state investigators found probable cause to believe he broke the law when he shot Gunn, 58, six days earlier.
An autopsy showed the man was shot five times, possibly while crouching on the ground shielding himself, a family lawyer said Thursday.
Authorities won't discuss evidence that led them to charge Smith. McDermott, who served as a Montgomery police officer before going to law school, said the arrest skipped the normal protocol of letting grand juries consider whether to charge officers who use deadly force while on duty.
Smith's arrest did seem to soothe anger in the black community in Montgomery, a city of 205,000 that is 56 percent black. Relatives and friends gathered at the shooting scene and praised the move within hours after the charges were announced.
"Right is right and wrong is wrong," said Aaryn Jordan, a nephew of Gunn.
Gunn's mother, Nellie Ruth Gunn, told reporters she wanted Smith to attend her son's funeral, set for Saturday.
"All I want is justice," she said.
Smith, who worked the overnight shift in what McDermott described as a high-crime area, shot and killed Gunn around 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 25, officials said.
Gunn, according to a neighbor, was a laborer who did odd jobs at area businesses, sometimes two at a time, and also cut grass in his neighborhood.
Smith thought Gunn was "suspicious" so he got out of his patrol car and approached the man on foot, police said.
Colvin Hinson said he his wife and their 13-year-old daughter were asleep when Gunn started banging on his front door and calling his name in the middle of the night. Then he heard gunshots.
Opening the door, Hinson saw Gunn dying in the yard, Hinson said. While authorities initially said Gunn had a rod or stick used as a handle on a paint roller, Hinson said the pole belonged to him and had been in the yard for several weeks.
Hinson had known Gunn for years, describing him as a hard-working man who walked everywhere because he had no car.
McDermott said Gunn used "deadly force" on Smith before the officer opened fire, but he wouldn't go into details. The defense will request a preliminary hearing in which some evidence will come out, he said.
The Gunn family's attorney, Tyrone Means, said Thursday an independent autopsy revealed Gunn was shot three times in his chest and twice in the buttocks, and at least one shot grazed his right arm.
"We believe Mr. Gunn was shot from his right side while in a crouched, defensive posture," Means said. "He had thrown up his right arm to protect himself."
The move to charge a white officer with murder in the shooting of a black man stood in contrast to past episodes of police violence dating back decades in Montgomery.
A cover-up after a deadly police shooting of a black man in 1975 led to the resignation of the mayor, police chief and multiple officers. The city has erected two monuments in memory of the victim, Bernard Whitehurst.
In 1983, months of unrest followed a confrontation in which two plainclothes police officers burst into a home full of funeral mourners believing something suspicious was going on. The mourners turned on the men, saying they didn't realize they were police.
Some of the 11 people who were arrested later claimed officers beat them during questioning. The mourners were acquitted after contentious trials.
The mayor said Wednesday that the police force now is about 45 percent black and has a black chief who is active in the community and oversees multiple community outreach programs. He urged residents to stay calm and left the legal system work.
"I believe that we have established over the last number of years a better working relationship with this community whether it be Hispanic or whether it be white or whether it be black," Strange said. -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/03/white-police-officer-arrested-in-killing-of-black-man-in-alabama/Smith quickly posted $150,000 bond thanks to fellow law enforcement officers who support him, McDermott said.
As the officer sat at a table, silently staring at a television camera while gripping his mother’s hand, McDermott sought to portray his client as a good officer who had been betrayed by the city.
“We appreciate the opportunity to show to the public that there is a face to the officer that has been portrayed as a killer in this community by the district attorney’s office, the city and the public,” he said, calling Smith a “highly decorated [officer with] years on the job, working third shift while the rest of us were asleep.”
He denied the accusation that Smith had racially profiled his victim, saying the officer was simply doing his job by patrolling a high-crime area late at night.
McDermott also claimed Smith and his family had received “death threats” in the days since the shooting.
“There are Facebook postings with wanted posters for this young man’s life,” McDermott said. “This is a Montgomery police officer who has put his life on the line for these citizens for years and his payback is no protection by the city or the county for him or his family. We have a Montgomery police officer who people are publicly Facebooking, calling for his murder.”
McDermott said blame for the shooting lay not on Smith but on the dead man.
“We believe the evidence will show that Mr. Gunn was not just innocently walking home,” he told WSFA. “Mr. Gunn chose to run from a Montgomery police officer during a field investigation, and he fought with this officer for a great length of time. … [He] ran and this officer pursued him, and Mr. Gunn turned violent. Mr. Gunn used force against an officer.
“We understand that Mr. Gunn’s life has ended, but Mr. Gunn chose for his life to end that night, and the facts will prove that,” McDermott added.
So apparently the lawyer of that pig is claiming the "real facts" are that his white pig client is somehow the real victim.. Because scary black was up to no good and wouldn't listen.. So the white knight cop was forced ? the scary black man to protect the high crime neighborhood and more importantly himself.. If that makes any sense.. Which it doesn't but it could make perfect sense to a majority or all white jury.. Which sure lawyer is hoping/plotting for... -
stringer bell wrote: »
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/03/white-police-officer-arrested-in-killing-of-black-man-in-alabama/Smith quickly posted $150,000 bond thanks to fellow law enforcement officers who support him, McDermott said.
As the officer sat at a table, silently staring at a television camera while gripping his mother’s hand, McDermott sought to portray his client as a good officer who had been betrayed by the city.
“We appreciate the opportunity to show to the public that there is a face to the officer that has been portrayed as a killer in this community by the district attorney’s office, the city and the public,” he said, calling Smith a “highly decorated [officer with] years on the job, working third shift while the rest of us were asleep.”
He denied the accusation that Smith had racially profiled his victim, saying the officer was simply doing his job by patrolling a high-crime area late at night.
McDermott also claimed Smith and his family had received “death threats” in the days since the shooting.
“There are Facebook postings with wanted posters for this young man’s life,” McDermott said. “This is a Montgomery police officer who has put his life on the line for these citizens for years and his payback is no protection by the city or the county for him or his family. We have a Montgomery police officer who people are publicly Facebooking, calling for his murder.”
McDermott said blame for the shooting lay not on Smith but on the dead man.
“We believe the evidence will show that Mr. Gunn was not just innocently walking home,” he told WSFA. “Mr. Gunn chose to run from a Montgomery police officer during a field investigation, and he fought with this officer for a great length of time. … [He] ran and this officer pursued him, and Mr. Gunn turned violent. Mr. Gunn used force against an officer.
“We understand that Mr. Gunn’s life has ended, but Mr. Gunn chose for his life to end that night, and the facts will prove that,” McDermott added.
So apparently the lawyer of that pig is claiming the "real facts" are that his white pig client is somehow the real victim.. Because scary black was up to no good and wouldn't listen.. So the white knight cop was forced ? the scary black man to protect the high crime neighborhood and more importantly himself.. If that makes any sense.. Which it doesn't but it could make perfect sense to a majority or all white jury.. Which sure lawyer will get ...
Fixed..... -
Look at this ? mufucka. I wanna punch his big ass eyeballs out
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http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/blogs/moonblog/2016/03/04/anonymous-releases-mpd-officers-personal-information/81325762/Hacker group Anonymous releases MPD officers' personal info
The “hacktivist” group Anonymous on Friday announced it had released the personal data of several Montgomery Police Department officers, including Aaron Smith who was arrested for the shooting of Gregory Gunn.
In a video posted to YouTube and shared across social media, the group said the data dump, which included officers’ phone numbers, addresses and lists of relatives and their addresses, was in retaliation of Smith’s actions. It promised more releases, including possibly making the department’s entire servers available for download, should Smith not be indicted.
Martha Earnhardt, a Montgomery Department of Public Safety spokesperson, said that MPD was aware of the post by Anonymous but that the department had no additional comment.
This is not the first threat over the shooting of Gunn, who was killed on Feb. 25. Smith’s attorney, Mickey McDermott, said in an interview Wednesday that Smith and his family have been forced into hiding because of a number of threats.
“There are people out there posting wanted posters on Facebook and putting up bounties,” McDermott said. “Why are we not talking about this? This is a good officer. MPD should be standing up for him and protecting him from this.”
However, Smith has his supporters.
A Fundrazr.com account that was started to assist Smith and his family with “living expenses and legal fees” associated with the case was over $7,000 as of Friday afternoon, with more than 100 people offering donations.
Smith was arrested by the State Bureau of Investigations on Wednesday after its investigation found probable cause that the officer murdered Gunn, a 58-year-old grocer who was unarmed and walking home from a late-night card game.
The arrest followed several days of protests and press conferences in the city, as tensions between residents and police and city leaders continued to grow. McDermott alleged Smith’s arrest was merely a means to stop the civil unrest and that Smith used deadly force only after using his Tazer on Gunn six times failed to subdue him.
District Attorney Daryl Bailey denied those claims and said Smith “did have a choice.” -
MasterJayN100 wrote: »
yoooooooooooooooo what story is that? drop some info/link bruh; them pigs was on some ? ? right there -
Damn im in my feelings
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http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2016/03/hacker_group_anonymous_anon_ve.htmlHacker group Anonymous Anon Verdict targets Montgomery Police Department following deadly shooting
Hackers are attacking the Montgomery Police Department more than a week after an officer shot and killed a man during an apparent altercation.
Officer Aaron Smith, 23, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the murder of Gregory Gunn, 58.
On Wednesday, Anonymous Anon Verdict posted a video to YouTube demanding Smith be indicted. The video prominently features the mask associated with Anonymous.
The group says it has released data on 27 officers. If Smith isn't indicted, the group says it will release data on the whole police department.
"MPD is aware of the post by 'Anonymous,'" Montgomery Department of Public Safety Spokesperson Martha Earnhardt said in a statement. "At this time, the department has no additional comment."
She didn't confirm whether the data released was the result of hacking.
The data released includes addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and family members of members of the police department, including Smith and Chief Ernest Finley.
The same group targeted the Cincinnati Police Department last month after a police shooting. -
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/blogs/moonblog/2016/03/07/quell-mpd-unrest-city-plans-new-investigation-into-gunn-shooting/81451110/To quell MPD unrest, city plans new investigation into Gunn shooting
The City of Montgomery plans to begin its own review into the shooting death of Gregory Gunn in order to address growing dissension within the city’s police department over the arrest of officer Aaron Smith.
Mayor Todd Strange said Monday evening that city and police officials, after multiple meetings with small groups of officers, agreed to assign the office of City Investigations – an office led by retired Air Force Gen. Ron Sams that functions similarly to a police force’s internal affairs department – to review evidence currently available to MPD.
Strange made it clear that the evidence being reviewed would be only items such as radio call recordings and the witness statements of MPD and other city personnel that were on the scene shortly after Smith shot Gunn. Evidence that can’t be replicated, such as body camera or patrol car dash camera footage, will not be available to City Investigations. He also said City Investigations will not be reviewing the work of the State Bureau of Investigation or passing judgment on its investigation.
“(MPD officers) are unhappy, they are concerned, they are upset,” Strange said. “One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing. We turned the investigation over to (the SBI), and it was the right move to make, but with it we also turned over access to information. We can’t provide our people answers.
“We will not interfere with (SBI’s) investigation. This is simply a review that can be done now to hopefully provide our people – our officers who are out there every day – provide them with some answers.”
Strange also said the information gathered, should any be revelatory, will be offered for use in any court proceedings. The first foray into a courtroom for the case is scheduled currently for March 24, when Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey and SBI will have to provide evidence of the probable cause that they say led to Smith’s arrest.
Smith was arrested last Wednesday by SBI following a six-day investigation into his shooting of Gunn, a 58-year-old unarmed black man who was walking in his neighborhood after leaving a late-night card game. Gunn’s death touched off a number of protests, particularly among Montgomery’s black citizens and drew national attention from outside news media, such as CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
While Smith’s arrest mostly quieted the protests, it had the opposite effect at MPD.
By late Thursday, a day after Smith was arrested, Strange had already met with “a number of smaller groups of officers,” and he was making arrangements for meetings with the entire force. Those meetings were held Monday – one at 9 a.m., another at 9 p.m. – at First Baptist Church in downtown Montgomery. City and police leaders, along with local pastors, were on hand to speak to officers about the case and update them on the city’s position.
The meetings also addressed a number of rumors that have circulated, primarily on social media and in talk radio, concerning Chief Ernest Finley’s status at MPD. By early Monday afternoon, rumors were rampant that Finley was on the verge of resigning over the handling of the case.
“I called him and asked him – he was in the field walking neighborhoods,” Strange said. “He asked how could these people be so vindictive. He told me he was taking notes on things that could be done to fix some problems once all of this died down.”
Strange admitted that the current situation is a no-win position for the city’s leadership. Do something to placate or encourage the police force and they anger the Gunn family and supporters. Do something to show support for the Gunn family and the police force becomes unhappy.
“It’s very, very tough,” Strange said. “But you just try to do what’s right.”
The complicated nature of the situation is probably best indicated by the backlash from posts on the MPD Facebook page. On Friday, Strange, Public Safety Director Chris Murphy and Finley held separate meetings with Gunn’s mother and with Smith. Photos from both meetings were placed on the MPD page.
The backlash was swift from both sides, but particularly over the Smith photo, which showed Smith, Finley and Smith’s two attorneys posing and smiling for the picture. The Facebook post included a description stating MPD “supports its officers” and had several hashtags, such as #it’soktohitthelikebutton.
Saturday morning, MPD removed the post and then replaced it later with an edited description without the hashtags. Asked about that sequence of events, Lt. Denise Barnes would confirm only that the Facebook page is maintained by MPD and declined additional comment.
However, Tyrone Means, a Montgomery attorney who represents the Gunn family, called the photo irresponsible and misguided.
“Look through the archives at your paper and see if you can find a photo of the chief of police standing and smiling beside any other person who has been recently arrested for murder,” Means said. “The photo has angered a number of people.”
On the police side of the matter, most of the anger is focused on the fact that Smith was arrested, instead of Bailey and SBI allowing the investigation to continue and presenting evidence to the grand jury for an indictment once it was complete. Smith’s attorney, Mickey McDermott, first raised that issue just hours after his arrest.
However, Bailey said Wednesday that the arrest wasn’t out of the ordinary.
If people will stop and think about this, there are many, many crimes, and several murders, every year, and in pretty much all of them, when the police identify a suspect and find probable cause to charge that person with a crime, they make the arrest,” Bailey said. “It doesn’t wait and go to the grand jury. This followed the normal pattern. We said we were going to treat this like any other case and that’s what we’ve done.”
Bailey said he was aware that some within the police force were unhappy with him and his handling of the case. However, he said he stands by the arrest and his assertion from that first day that the reasons for it would be clear when the evidence is provided. He also said he would not release information or evidence prior to the March 24 hearing.
“It would be easy to do that – to put it out there in the hopes of making some people understand why a certain decision was made,” Bailey said. “But I wouldn’t do that for a number of reasons. First, I believe it to be illegal, since most of this is covered by the grand jury secrecy act. Second, I don’t believe it’s right, because it could possibly taint a jury pool, and I believe (Smith) deserves an impartial jury when or if he goes to trial.”
Until that trial, city leaders and MPD leadership have a delicate balancing act to manage – one that could affect the welfare of the entire city.
“Our primary focus right now, particularly for MPD, is to come together as a family and do the job,” Strange said. “We will do all that we can to support them and make sure they have information while at the same time making sure we get to the truth of the matter. Maybe it’s Pollyannaish, but I truly believe that the truth will be the only thing that makes this right.”
Oh look the "good" cops are upset that one of the bad cops got arrested.. I thought the "good" cops would never protect one of "few bad apples" charged w/ a serious crime... -
@stringer bell
I appreciate these drops. It's hard for me to keep up with what the media is saying while at work
@stringer bell be like the Black Drudge Report round here lol -
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2016/03/24/sbi-agent-mpd-officer-said-gunn-never-threatened-him/82208600/SBI agent: MPD officer said Gunn never threatened him
Montgomery officer Aaron “AC” Smith told investigators from the State Bureau of Investigation that he didn’t suspect Gregory Gunn of criminal activity and had no reason to charge him with a crime when he detained, chased, tased and ultimately fired seven shots at Gunn, striking him five times and killing him, an SBI agent testified Thursday in a Montgomery District Court hearing.
After two hours of testimony from SBI agent Jason DiNunzio, Judge Jimmy Pool determined that there was enough probable cause for SBI to arrest Smith for murder in the Gunn shooting. The case will now go to a grand jury for a possible indictment, but a backlog at the state crime lab could delay that action for months.
“It was the result we were hoping, so we feel good about that,” said Franklin Gunn, a brother of Gregory Gunn. “I think today proved what we’ve been saying all along is what really happened – my brother was murdered.”
Wednesday’s probable cause hearing was the first opportunity for SBI and Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey to lay out their case against Smith, and to provide details of the investigation to a police force angry about the arrest.
For well over an hour, and under questioning from both Bailey and Smith’s attorney, Mickey McDermott, DiNunzio walked through the timeline of events that led to Smith’s shooting of Gunn, all of which occurred – from the time Smith radioed in that he was exiting his vehicle to speak with Gunn to the time he radioed in that shots had been fired – in a matter of just more than two minutes.
Many of the details for that timeline came from two interviews with Smith, DiNunzio said, and the agent often used Smith’s own words against him.
No details came from Smith’s body camera or the dashboard camera inside Smith’s police vehicle. A hot-button topic since the shooting, as rumors swirled that no camera footage existed, DiNunzio revealed for the first time publicly that Smith did not activate his body camera, which has to be manually started, during his encounter with Gunn.
DiNunzio said Smith did activate the camera during two earlier interactions with citizens – an arrest and a traffic stop. He also failed to manually activate the dashboard camera, which is set to start recording when the blue lights atop the MPD SUV that Smith was driving are turned on – which Smith also failed to do.
“(Smith) said he was getting out of the car to conduct a field interview,” DiNunzio testified. “He said he did not suspect Mr. Gunn of committing a crime. He said he would stop any person walking in that neighborhood at that hour (3 a.m.).”
Following the hearing, McDermott told the media that Gunn’s presence on the street that night, coupled with the fact that his Mobile Heights neighborhood was a “high-crime area,” was enough to make Gunn “a suspect.”
“We might not like it, but that is the case,” McDermott said. “This officer had probable cause to stop Mr. Gunn, given the time of day and the area.”
McDermott also had enlarged photos of several of Gunn’s mugshots from previous arrests and portrayed Gunn as a habitual drug user with a history of criminal behavior.
“Mr. Gunn chose to fight that night by running,” McDermott said. “This is not the Mr. Gunn that he has been portrayed to be in the media, and this officer met the real Mr. Gunn.”
DiNunzio revealed that there is no video footage of the event. A dashboard camera within Smith’s patrol vehicle, a black SUV, could be manually activated or automatically activated by flipping on the vehicle’s blue lights, but Smith did neither. Smith also failed to manually activate his body camera – a requirement with the type of cameras MPD officers wear.
DiNunzio also stated that an examination of the crime scene found Smith fired seven shots at Gunn. An autopsy performed by a former medical examiner hired by the Gunn family revealed Gunn had been shot five times.
However, according to DiNunzio’s testimony, not only was Smith unaware of Gunn’s background, or the name of the man he was interacting with, DiNunzio said he paused during the interviews with Smith at different intervals to ask if Smith had any crimes with which to charge Gunn. Each time, DiNunzio said, Smith said no.
“I asked him, ‘Did Mr. Gunn ever verbally threaten you,’ and his answer was no,” DiNunzio said. “I asked if Mr. Gunn ever went for his weapon or made any aggressive moves towards him. His answer was no. I asked him if it was a crime to run from the police and he said it wasn’t.”
DiNunzio said Smith stated during his interviews that he first spotted Gunn walking along the street when he turned into the Mobile Heights neighborhood. Smith exited the vehicle, ordered Gunn to remove his hands from his pockets and to place them on the hood of the car.
DiNunzio testified that as Smith was preparing for a search, he brushed something in Gunn’s pocket, a cell phone fell out, and Gunn shuffled his feet and began to run away. Almost immediately, he said, Smith stated that he used his taser on Gunn, hitting him with the two prongs from the gun in his back. He ultimately used his taser on Gunn at least three times.
“(Gunn) was still not charged with anything and had committed no crimes,” DiNunzio said. “When we asked officer Smith why he used his taser, he said it was because he didn’t want to shoot (Gunn) in the back.”
McDermott, during his questions to DiNunzio, stated that broken glass was found near where Smith attempted his initial pat down of Gunn. McDermott stated that the glass could have been a ? pipe, and DiNunzio said it was possible.
DiNunzio also highlighted discrepancies with Smith’s two statements – the latter coming three days after the shooting and with McDermott present. Smith first told investigators from SBI that he had made contact with Gunn shortly after the first taser was deployed and that the two men wrestled briefly before Gunn pushed him off and started to flee again. In the second interview, there was no struggle.
There was also no swing of the painter’s pole in the second interview, DiNunzio said. That act by Gunn – allegedly swinging the painter’s pole at Smith while the two were on the porch of Gunn’s nextdoor neighbor – was the act Smith said prompted him to fire on Gunn. But by the second interview, DiNunzio said, Smith wasn’t so sure, but he believed Gunn just turned toward him with both hands gripping the pole.
DiNunzio also questioned that statement, because he said that when he observed Gunn’s body at the crime scene, Gunn still had a black baseball cap clutched in his left hand.
“We knew he had that cap in his hand. It would have been hard for him to grip that pole with both hands,” DiNunzio said. -
Under questioning from McDermott, DiNunzio said the hat had not been tested to determine if it was used to hold the pole. However, the pole had been examined for fingerprints and Gunn’s prints weren’t on it.
It was one more odd detail in a shooting filled with them, particularly the actual shooting itself, which occurred on or just off the porch of Gunn’s nextdoor neighbor. In addition to changing his story on whether Gunn swung the 5-foot-long painter’s pole at him, Smith also varied his description of where he was standing and the distance between him and Gunn when he began firing.
In the end, asked to positively narrow down the space between Gunn and Smith by using evidence, Smith’s statements and the measurements of the porch area, DiNunzio said he would accept Smith’s final assessment – “that he was about 8 to 10 feet away.”
For the Gunn family, the testimony on Thursday, and the decision by Pool to send the case to the grand jury, was confirmation that Gregory Gunn had done nothing to provoke shots from a police officer.
“We knew that while my brother had his ups and downs and had a few issues, he did not deserve this,” Franklin Gunn said. “There have been a lot of people talk about race in this, but I’m not going to do that. This wasn’t racial. This was about a man being suspected of being guilty of something simply because he was walking in his own neighborhood at an odd time. That’s wrong. It was wrong on the first day and I think people see how wrong it is now.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yeoYjBP7Vw
