3 August 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Fatal Fullerton police beating of homeless man sparks outcry

originally by: Los Angeles Times
published: 2nd August 2011

An arrest that ended in the death of a mentally ill homeless man in Fullerton has many residents outraged and city officials looking for answers. At about 8:30 p.m. on the night of July 5, Fullerton police officers responded to reports that a man was trying to get into cars parked near a bus depot.

The suspect was described as a homeless man with long hair and no shirt carrying a backpack, police said. When officers arrived at the scene, they found 37-year-old Kelly Thomas, a schizophrenic homeless man who had become a fixture in downtown Fullerton and surrounding cities.

What happened next has Thomas’ family, acquaintances and much of the city outraged. Police said Thomas tried to run after officers searched his backpack and found items that weren’t his.

27 June 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police officer who killed Oscar Grant free, some protesters still face jail

originally by: Truthout
19th June 2011

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant while he was lying face down on the Fruitvale station train platform on New Year’s Day 2009, was released from a Los Angeles jail June 13 after serving a total of 365 days for his involuntary manslaughter conviction. He was sentenced to two years behind bars, but Judge Robert Perry granted him an early release due to credit for time served and good behavior.

The same date of his release, the National Lawyers Guild filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 150 protesters who were mass-arrested during the Nov. 5, 2010 demonstration in Oakland in the wake of Mehersle’s sentencing.

22 May 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Stephen Lawrence pair face murder trial

originally published by: BBC News
18th May 2011

Two men are to stand trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Gary Dobson, 35, and David Norris, 34, are accused of killing the black teenager at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993. Nobody has been convicted of the crime but a small team of Scotland Yard detectives has continued to investigate the 18-year-old’s death.

Mr Dobson stood trial in 1996 over the murder – which he denied – and he was acquitted. On Wednesday the Court of Appeal concluded that there was enough new and substantial evidence to allow Dobson’s acquittal to be quashed.