Police ignored pleas for ambulance, say family

Tippa Naphtali, the cousin of Mikey Powell said; “When I saw this headline about Jake’s case its first impact was how identical it was to headlines related to my cousin’s case. The more I read about Jake’s death the more I realised the striking similarity of events to those of Mikey’s.

“I am extremely saddended for the family and friends of Jake and outraged that such a sequence of events could be repeated almost blow for blow. Where are these lessons that police forces throughout the UK claim they take on after deaths in custody? Are we going to continue to allow this complacency?

“This has to stop. Family campaigners need to take matters into our hands in a manner more unprecidented than anything seen before. We need to adopt an intelligent and collaborative response working with a single vision and strategy.

“Our thoughts go out to this family and the others, both recent and previous, that have suffered this ultimate injustice”. 

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Mark Duggan’s brother Shaun Hall calls for justice over ‘assassination’

originally by: Haringey Independent
published: 5th October 2011

The brother of Mark Duggan – the Tottenham man shot dead by police in August – has made an emotional appeal for “justice”. 

Launching the Tottenham Defence Campaign today with three other families who have lost relatives in police incidents, Shaun Hall described the death of his brother in Ferry Lane on August 4 as “an assassination”.

He said: “What had my brother done so wrong? He had no criminal record and was not wanted by the police for anything as far as we know, so why did it happen?

“We’re told the police officer was scared – what was he scared of? Was he adequately trained? Why didn’t the local Tottenham police intervene?

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Officer charged with manslaughter in Aiyana case

originally by: CBS Detroit
published: 4th October 2011

A member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl who was shot to death during a raid on her home. Charges were also announced against two others. Officer Joseph Weekley was charged Tuesday following a yearlong Michigan State Police investigation into the May 2010 death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones. A judge entered a not-guilty plea for Weekley at an afternoon court hearing in front of Judge Margie Braxton.

Aiyana was killed in a police raid as she slept on a couch in her home. While witnesses said police burst in shooting, police insist that the girl was shot when an officer’s gun accidentally discharged.

The raid was being filmed by a crew for the A&E network’s “The First 48″ show.

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