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Back in March I blogged about yet another example of cops out of control — the murder by cop of a 73-year-old black man, a cancer survivor, who was hosting a family cookout in front of his humble home in Homer, Lousiana.
Officer Tim Cox, and Officer Joey Henry showed up at Bernard Monroe's house to speak with the elderly man's son Shawn (he had a record, but didn't have any current warrants against him). The younger Monroe ran toward the house and Officer Cox pursued him and…
[T]he elder Monroe had started walking toward the front door, carrying only his drink bottle, to try to intervene. When Monroe got to the first step on the front porch, the witnesses said, Cox opened fire, striking him several times as adults and children stood nearby.
“He just shot him through the screen door,” said Denise Nicholson, a family friend who said she was standing a few feet from Monroe. “After [Monroe] was on the ground, we kept asking the officer to call an ambulance, but all he did was get on his radio and say, 'Officer in distress.' “
As Monroe lay dying, the witnesses said, the second police officer, who has not been publicly identified, picked up a handgun that Monroe, an avid hunter, always kept in plain sight on the porch for protection. Using a police-issue blue latex glove, the officer grasped the gun by its handle, the witnesses said, and then ordered everyone to back away from the scene. The next thing they said they saw was the gun on the ground next to Monroe's body.
Well, here we are in August (the shooting was on Feb. 20) and there have been at least two investigations. Did anything come of this? The update is the two officers are moving on to other jobs. No one with a badge did any time for the slaying of an unarmed, elderly black man.
“Tim Cox told me he is moving to St. Tammany Parish and I think will be training canines for police departments,” Colvin said. “I don't know what Joey Henry is going to do.”
Both officers had been on paid administrative leave after the shooting, which is still under investigation by the FBI and state police.
“They should have been gone,” said Rev. Willie Young, head of the Claiborne Parish NAACP, on Wednesday. “I don't think taxpayers should have been paying their salaries all this time.”
Hat tip, Tasered While Black.
7 Comments
About the gun…My dad is about the same age and he keeps a gun near his front door. He lives at the end of a new development and this is what is across the street from his house.
There are wild animals all around the place, including wolves, coyotes, and bears.
I don’t know much about Homer, Louisiana. But, please don’t jump to any conclusions about this man keeping a gun handy. It is not as unusual as it may sound.
My parents have about ten guns handy. Possibly more. And out of their front door it doesn’t look anywhere near that beautiful landscape pictured above. It’s simply a city neighborhood.
Many people just do this, it’s within our rights… and more usual than many people believe. No reason to immediately think it’s there to attack or harm others. Usually it’s just used as a deterrent.
Well as bad as all of this sounds atleast the shooting doesn’t seem intentionalThat is not to say it wasn’t despicable but I think there in lies the difference. Yes something should be done but I don’t think either officer should go to jail for shooting this man. That was a mistake, all be it a bad one, it is what it is.
Now the attempted cover up on the other hand does speak to really going down the wrong road and in that there should have been some jail time. I think as a peace officer the repercussions of lying should carry real penalties. There isn’t however much you can do about the racism if you send them to jail. That will just require more “teachable moments”.
Negligent homicide if you ask me1) No warrant
2) No crime committed
3) Using deadly force without cause
4) Failure to seek medical help immediately
Then, we get to the part about moving the gun.
These guys belong in jail if it is all true.
Now let that have beena rich white elderly man or just a white man in general and those suckers would have been in jail right about now.
Just when I think I can’t be more disgusted with the world….
You must not be from around here, boy.When the victim is a colored man, it just isn’t a problem.
Can we make it any simpler for you than that?
“…doesn’t seen INTENTIONAL”????????? WTFlyingF?Oops? My Finger slipped SEVERAL TIMES??????
Mistake????
State sanctioned homicide is more like it.
Sheesh.