originally by: The Guardian 
published: 8 January 2014

The family of Mark Duggan, whose death sparked the worst riots in modern British history, reacted with fury when an inquest jury ruled on Wednesday that police acted lawfully when they shot him, even though he had not been carrying a gun when he was killed.

By a majority of eight to two, the jury ruled that the 2011 shooting was lawful. The jury said they were sure, by the same eight-to-two majority, that Duggan did not have a weapon in his hands when police surrounded him. By a majority, the jury concluded he “threw” the gun from a cab he was travelling in when armed officers forced it to stop.

The family described the jury’s conclusion as perverse and said they would consider a judicial review.

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originally by: CNN.com 
published: 7 January 2014

Seventy seconds: That’s how long a North Carolina family says it took for things to go horribly wrong as they sought police help dealing with their mentally ill son.

Keith Vidal, 18, died Sunday. According to CNN affiliate WECT, he was just shot 1 minute and 10 seconds after a third law enforcement officer showed up at his Brunswick County home.

The three officers all were from different jurisdictions, and family members say that the third officer (who came from a nearby city) turned what had been an improving situation into an unnecessarily aggressive encounter that ended in their son’s death.

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