BREAKING: Police investigators now say that Thomas "TJ" Siderio, the 12-year-old boy Philadelphia police shot in the back as he was running away last week, was likely *not* carrying a gun when he was killed, and that the plainclothes cops chasing him never identified themselves.
The cops were not wearing body cameras, but video footage was obtained from neighbors' video-equipped doorbells.
The incident started when a bullet was fired through the back windshield of an unmarked police car, shattering the glass.
Police say just before that they had seen TJ and a 17-year-old boy on the street corner on their bicycles and claimed TJ was holding a gun.
They say they then turned on the unmarked car's flashing lights.
The 17-year-old boy who was arrested but then let go at the precinct says the cops never turned on the car's lights and police never identified themselves.
He says neither he nor TJ had a gun and didn't shoot at the car.
TJ's family's lawyer also adamantly deny the 7th-grader had a gun.
The 17-year-old and TJ's family say that when he ran he had no idea he was being pursued by police.
Yesterday, the Philadelphia police chief announced that the officer who shot TJ had been suspended and would be fired but declined to identify the officer citing potential threats to his safety.
And listen it wouldn't matter if TJ was carrying a gun when he was shot and killed, because he was running away. He was not a threat to the cop's safety. Police don't get to summarily execute children by shooting them in the back.
Unusual thing about this case BTW is that the police investigators at least *partially* conceded that the initial police narrative was wrong. Only partially.
PS So-called "dropsy" cases where police officers claim they saw someone toss either drugs or a gun are the most frequent vehicle by which cops are able to lie. nytimes.com/2018/03/18/nyr…
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Hear me out, no one should go to jail for driving with a suspended license, even Madison Cawthorn.
Black people are disproportionately stopped, charged & convicted of traffic infractions. They're more likely to have their licenses suspended. The crime is usually one of poverty.
It's one reason that a number of states have introduced reforms that will lift suspensions based on inability to pay tickets (there are certain conditions). finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/2021/06/28/new…
Which doesn't mean Black people aren't still being arrested for DWB, including for driving with a suspended license, just that they can apply to have the suspension lifted.
You'll remember earlier this year Eric Adams lionizing two cops who arrested a teenager, after one was accidentally shot during the scuffle.
Well today a judge found they had no reason to stop or search him and that they lied on the witness stand. nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-c-…
Adams also blasted the judge who set $250,000 bond for the teenager, which he was able to make after having recently signed a recording contract. nydailynews.com/news/politics/…
At the time, Adams, Pat Lynch and much of the media completely misrepresented this case as an intentional police shooting, when in fact the gun discharged accidentally and went through the teenager's leg before hitting the cop. nypost.com/2022/01/27/nyc…
A San Francisco police officer was acquitted yesterday of assault and battery for the 2019 beating a man with his baton that broke the man's wrist and leg.
It was the city's *first ever* trial of a police officer for use of excessive force while on duty. sfgate.com/news/article/S…
The jury hung on a fourth count of unlawfully beating the complainant under color of law.
Terrance Stangel repeatedly struck Dacari Spiers with his baton including "five strikes when he was lying on the ground in the fetal position, writhing in pain" according to the prosecutor.
Officer Stangel is White. Mr. Spiers is Black.
There were no Black people on the jury that acquitted the officer.
The incident started with four plainclothes police officers sitting in an unmarked car, when suddenly someone shot at the car shattering the rear window.
I should also mention that @washingtonpost's database is limited to police shootings, so if police killed people in police pursuits or in other incidents of brutality the percentage may be higher.