Keith Olbermann
2014-04-19 07:15:03 UTC
In the last three years, Albuquerque police department officers
have shot and killed 23 people -- one of the highest per capita
fatal police shooting rates in the country. One of the most
recent was James Boyd, a mentally ill homeless man. The incident
was captured on video, and shows Boyd, armed with two knives,
standing several feet away from officers. He is turning away
from them when he is shot. As he lay on the ground, officers
fired beanbags at him and set a police dog on him. He died the
next day.
Albuquerque PD chief Gordon Eden said the shooting was justified
because Boyd "directed a threat" at one of the officers and
they'd already used non-lethal force to no effect. As we know,
if police officers think they are being threatened -- whether
that threat turns out to be real or just a 70-year-old man
reaching for his cane -- they are allowed to shoot people.
About 1,000 people took to the streets on March 25 to protest
Boyd's killing. Even a retired APD officer participated, telling
KRQE: "The methods they used were not methods I'd ever been
taught."
A few hours later, another officer shot and killed Alfred
Redwine, though he was armed with a gun and may have fired at
officers before they shot him (officers say he did, neighbors
say he didn't).
On March 28, the FBI announced that it was investigating Boyd's
shooting. The Department of Justice has been investigating the
APD for years.
Today, following Anonymous' call to action, hundreds of
protestors marched to the APD headquarters, then took to other
streets, blocking traffic. Officers donned riot gear, but so far
(and somewhat surprisingly) no one has been shot. There were
reports of tear gas being fired. The protest has been going on
for hours now.
Meanwhile, APD's website was hacked. The site was down for
hours, according to the AP, and officer's personal information
(for example, Eden's) was obtained and tweeted. Anonymous has
taken credit for the hack.
The Albuquerque Journal (which has a good liveblog of the
protest) estimates that the the city has spent more than $24
million on police misconduct lawsuits, including a $7.95 million
lawsuit to the family of a man killed while holding a gun to his
own head.
have shot and killed 23 people -- one of the highest per capita
fatal police shooting rates in the country. One of the most
recent was James Boyd, a mentally ill homeless man. The incident
was captured on video, and shows Boyd, armed with two knives,
standing several feet away from officers. He is turning away
from them when he is shot. As he lay on the ground, officers
fired beanbags at him and set a police dog on him. He died the
next day.
Albuquerque PD chief Gordon Eden said the shooting was justified
because Boyd "directed a threat" at one of the officers and
they'd already used non-lethal force to no effect. As we know,
if police officers think they are being threatened -- whether
that threat turns out to be real or just a 70-year-old man
reaching for his cane -- they are allowed to shoot people.
About 1,000 people took to the streets on March 25 to protest
Boyd's killing. Even a retired APD officer participated, telling
KRQE: "The methods they used were not methods I'd ever been
taught."
A few hours later, another officer shot and killed Alfred
Redwine, though he was armed with a gun and may have fired at
officers before they shot him (officers say he did, neighbors
say he didn't).
On March 28, the FBI announced that it was investigating Boyd's
shooting. The Department of Justice has been investigating the
APD for years.
Today, following Anonymous' call to action, hundreds of
protestors marched to the APD headquarters, then took to other
streets, blocking traffic. Officers donned riot gear, but so far
(and somewhat surprisingly) no one has been shot. There were
reports of tear gas being fired. The protest has been going on
for hours now.
Meanwhile, APD's website was hacked. The site was down for
hours, according to the AP, and officer's personal information
(for example, Eden's) was obtained and tweeted. Anonymous has
taken credit for the hack.
The Albuquerque Journal (which has a good liveblog of the
protest) estimates that the the city has spent more than $24
million on police misconduct lawsuits, including a $7.95 million
lawsuit to the family of a man killed while holding a gun to his
own head.