Would a Judge Allow 100 Gang Members to Show Up in Court in Solidarity With Killers?

Ohio Attorney General's office

Probably only if they're cops. Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

About 100 officers showed up at Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court today to support six officers charged in a police chase that killed two people after officers fired 137 shots at the fleeing car's passengers.

The six—Patrolman Michael Brelo and five supervisors—are appearing  for arraignments. All officers pleaded not guilty. Judge Lance Mason set bond for Brelo at $10,000. The supervisors were released on personal bond.

That chase was of two unarmed people who had committed no crime. The most charitable explanation of why police initiated that pursuit is that a cop heard an engine pop and thought it was a gun shot. The chase ended with 13 cops firing 137 rounds into the car of Timothy Russell, killing him and passenger Malissa Williams. Only one of the cops, Brelo, is being tried. He allegedly jumped on the hood of the car and fired 15 shots into the windshield.

Separately, in Nassau County, New York, a large number of officers came to court to support a Nassau cop facing charges in the beating of an unarmed 20-year-old during a traffic stop. They're proud of what he did.

Comments

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

Is this what happened in the Kelly Thomas trial? I can’t find the corroboration, but I heard that cops flooded the courtroom during the trial and the announcement of the verdict.

[DEG]

Another commentator here mentioned OCWeekly’s coverage of the case.

Here’s a story that mentions off-duty cops hissing at parts of testimony:

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/nave…..lerton.php

The Ramos/Cicinelli loyalists (including off-duty cops) that pack one side of Judge William R. Froeberg’s Santa Ana courtroom each day responded by shaking their heads and hissing.

Here’s a link to the complete OCWeekly coverage of the Kelly Thomas killing:

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/nave…..s_killing/

One of the cops that killed him is now a little league coach.

[R C Dean]

The judge is on the same team as the cops, so he won’t tell them no.

This was just a motion hearing, so, really, no harm done. If he lets them do this for the jury trial, he should be dismissed from the bar and lose his license. For starters.

My guess: There will be 100 cops in the room, probably charging overtime, for the entire trial. The killers will get off. AND NOTHING ELSE WILL HAPPEN.

[Sudden]

But OUR. HEROES. will return home safely to their children each night.

kinda warms the heart, eh?

[Copernicus]

Yeah, this is tougher in a criminal trial because the prosecutor normally works on the side of the cops. It is a rare prosecutor who would make a motion to the judge to have the “supporters” either get back to work (the only time they are supposed to be in uniform), or change into non-uniform clothing.

The judge should do it on his own. I disagree that the judge is on the same team as the cops. Some are and some aren’t. Judge Ito is a good example of a judge who was mostly on his own team.

[Copernicus]

I once was a civil servant (Fire) and it was made explicitly clear and strictly enforced that one never wears the uniform off duty except when traveling directly to and from work. If we ever wanted to stop by a store or bank or atm on the way, we better damn sure change our shirt at least, and if one ever used the uniform to gain any kind of influence or favoritism (or to intimidate), that person would be at least half-way to getting fired.

[Brendan]

All private companies I’ve worked for were like this as well.

Your work uniform, including just your name tag, was not to be worn outside of work. Obviously to/from work was OK. You were never to act as though represented the company or do any kind of protest, moonlighting, charity work, etc. while in uniform.

I love that police get away with this.

If they’re on-duty, it’s obvious the police force has enough cops or is squandering what little resources it has, either way time to get rid of some cops as they don’t serve a purpose.

If they’re off-duty, it shows that they came to make a point while wearing their official uniform and are obviously abusing the authority that seems to come with the uniform to influence the members of the court.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

Fuck these fuckin thugs.

[ace_m82]

“He allegedly jumped on the hood of the car and fired 15 shots into the windshield.”

Did he watch too many movies as a kid?

[Brandon]

He was screaming ‘AAAAAHHHHHHH!’

[Sudden]

And “STOP RESISTING!!1!1!!!!”

[Apatheist]

About 100 officers showed up at Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court today to support six officers charged in a police chase thatintimidate the shit out of anyone who might try to hold them accountable for their actions.

FTF the Plain Dealer. Thugs in uniform.

[Warty]

The whole notion of solidarity gives me the creeps. Am I the only one?

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Nope.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

No. I was just thinking about this on the drive home, and that was without the benefit of this article. I’m sure it’s a very carefully built and reinforced culture across all police departments, and it’s fucking destructive as hell.

[Episiarch]

It’s a gang. This shouldn’t surprise you.

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, saw a little bit of a OJ Simpson trial documentary last night. That was crazy.

[Swamp Think]

You are not alone.

[Brendan]

When anyone else does it, it’s called gang membership.

If it’s done in this fashion, terms like “witness intimidation”, “jury tampering”, and “conspiracy” come up a lot.

[Episiarch]

Not only is this egregious, but think of how egregious it is. This isn’t a few police officers coming to the courtroom and “showing support” and glowering at jurors; this is 100 officers. Can you even fit that many people in the courtroom? Was there anyone else in there but cops? It’s not just intimidation; it’s overwhelming intimidation. Like everything else the cops do nowadays. They dial everything up to 11. It’s a pathology.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

It’s a huge group of thugs coming to court and saying “Look at how many of us will kill you and your family, unless you do what we say!”

Just like every day, really. Except in a court room.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Would a Judge Allow 100 Gang Members to Show Up in Court in Solidarity With Killers?

Evidently Ed Krayewski has my house bugged. I said this exact sentence to my wife earlier in my kitchen. (I had to finish the cooking of the rib roast indoors because we got drenched outdoors.)

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You don’t just talk about a rib roast without giving details.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

We just butchered a steer, and I could not bring myself to freeze everything. I rubbed a 4-bone rib roast (yesterday, then stuck it wrapped in the fridge) with 3 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Braised it (open pan, closed grill lid, in its own juices) in the old Weber kettle grill using the indirect method.
It had just reached 145?F when the skies opened up and tried hard to reestablish the myth of Thor. Not feeling like fighting it, I brought it in and finished it in the oven while I changed clothes. It was wonderful.

[Max Power]

Whoa, that sounds good.

I’m having beer and beef jerky that I bought at the beer store for dinner.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

I’m having beer and beef jerky

I can’t drink alcohol. It sends me into instant high blood pressure.

[Warren's Strapon]

It had just reached 145?F when the skies opened up…I brought it in and finished it in the oven

It was finished before it started raining.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

It was finished before it started raining.

Not quite for Mrs. LFOD for this recipe, but I would have been fine with it right about there.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

It’s blatant bullshit like this that makes me honest-to-god wonder how far you can push people before they snap and start turning to vigilante justice. It seems like we’re really determined to find out.

[ace_m82]

If people keep replying with “AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED” it does make me want to.

Again, if God didn’t say, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” then I would.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Has it ever occurred to you that vigilante justice is Gods way of dishing out his vengeance?

If I remember my bible, and I don’t, God works through people here on Earth. Wouldn’t surprise me if an uprising was Gods way of putting the foot down on those who worship the idol of the state.

[Duke]

Well, God did use other nations to fight against each other and Israel to accomplish his will. And he also distributed justice by opening up the earth and other such calamities. My belief is that he allows it to happen until the famous Day of The Lord where he comes down and smites the nations with great wrath and furious anger. That’s basically the gist of it as far as I can tell.

[Brandon]

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

[Marshall Gill]

Crazy. I think I used those exact words with my son last night when he complained about taking out the trash.

[Copernicus]

It would be awesome if your son’s name is Brett.

[gaoxiaen]

That’s just like you. Plagiarizing Pulp Fiction.

[Paul.]

A lot further.

[sarcasmic]

By the time people are pushed to the point where they give serious thought to being the Punisher, they’ve got families to think of.

[Raven Nation]

Wasn’t that one of the things that led to that guy shooting up the courthouse in Georgia (?) a few weeks back?

[All-Seeing Monocle]

Only one of the cops, Brelo, is being tried.

That is fucking bullshit too. Every fucking one of them should be on trial. Let the jury decide which ones are innocent.

[Paul.]

Let God sort them out!!11!

[Marshall Gill]

That was not in reference to a trial but I am OK with the way it was applied.

[Rich Uncle Pennybags]

Can we officially retire the ‘a few bad apples’ platitude now?

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Ought to, since it’s false. Even Chaucer knew that the “rotten apple ruins its neighbors.”

[Winston]

You Know Who Else wanted a revolution against thuggish cops?

[BuSab Agent]

John Lennon?

[Paul.]

The American Kennel Association?

[Paul.]

Club, damnit, Club.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

The American Club Association?

[RussianPrimeMinister]

Of Baby Seals?

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Yum, baby seal!

[gaoxiaen]

That’s an order, you rookie.

[sarcasmic]

Rage Against the Machine?

[Brandon]

Robin Hood?

[Winston]

Depends on which version…

[antisocial-ist]

Would a Judge Allow 100 Gang Members to Show Up in Court in Solidarity With Killers?

Only if they had badges.

[Max Power]

These cops are like a pack of animals. It’s like when my dog sees another dog barking and he runs over to bark too, without knowing what he’s barking at. One cop starts shooting and all the other cops run over and start shooting too. It’s disgusting.

[Brandon]

Seems appropriate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QumyJMMuKE0

[Cyto]

One cop starts shooting and all the other cops run over and start shooting too.

This is normal human behavior and is to be expected. This is why we need to change everything about how policing works in America.

Every police officer does not need to be armed to the teeth. Only the best and most highly trained should be carrying. Why? Because if this isn’t the case then only the worst and most poorly trained will be making decisions about when to use deadly force.

Look at the video of Jose Guerena. With all of those bodies crowded at the door, all it took was for one idiot to panic fire and everyone emptied their gun. If they had instead used better procedures including only having one experienced and well trained officer at the door he probably would be alive today. 5 people with fingers on the trigger means 5 times the chance that somebody makes a mistake. If you only have one or two experienced and well trained officers with the proper temperament holding weapons then the odds are exponentially better that mistakes will be avoided.

[Cyto]

We had a shooting in south Florida a few months back that lead to several officers being injured by friendly fire aimed at unarmed suspects who were trying to surrender. It even involved recordings of an officer yelling at his fellows to listen to their radios and stop shooting. Way too many idiots had guns in their hands that day. Once the first shot was fired, there was zero chance that everyone else was going to stand idly by. Pretty much everyone on this message board would fire if they were in similar circumstances and the guy next to them started ripping off rounds. The best course is to limit the people who have the chance to fire that first round.

[Libertarian]

If it’s normal human behavior, then the vaunted officer training we keep hearing about should address it.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Look at the video of Jose Guerena. With all of those bodies crowded at the door, all it took was for one idiot to panic fire and everyone emptied their gun.

It also could have gotten the lot of them killed. Clogging the door way up that means if someone actually manages to returns fire, there’s a pretty good chance that one or more of the breachers would have been hit.

Pretty much everyone on this message board would fire if they were in similar circumstances and the guy next to them started ripping off rounds.

Gonna call bullshit on that. Anyone who knows anything about firearms knows that you need to know the target and what’s beyond it, and not to fire at anything you aren’t willing to destroy. If you have no fucking clue what you’re shooting at or why, you can’t follow either rule. A responsible, knowledgeable individual would not fire blindly in a situation like that.

[RishJoMo]

Judges typically are not the brightest bulbs in the pack!

http://www.WentAnon.tk

[jdgalt]

It’s sure beginning to sound like it’s everybody BUT the cops who needs to be equipping with military gear.

[Nike mujeres libres venta]

New york has so many police????