[QUOTE]A reality-TV crew videotaped the Detroit police raid in which 7-year-old Aiyana Jones was shot to death, and the girl's family is suing the police.
"The videotape shows clearly that the assistant police chief and the officers on the scene are engaging in an intentional cover-up of the events," Geoffrey Fieger, the family's attorney, told The Associated Press. He filed the suit today in U.S. District Court, alleging police needlessly threw a flash grenade into the home, burning Aiyana before she was shot.
A video filmed by the crew of A&E's reality-TV show "The First 48" captured the raid, which set out to arrest a murder suspect but ended with Aiyana's death.
The crime show regularly follows the Detroit police as they investigate murders in the city and was on hand with the department over the weekend to film the attempted arrest of a homicide suspect. But the raid went poorly, and now the TV show that recorded it is becoming a central part of the story.
The events that led to the child's shooting death are in dispute, and footage of the video may help determine whose side of the story is accurate.
Witnesses told The Detroit News that about 20 officers were at the scene when an officer threw a flash grenade, meant to disorient suspects, into the home.
At a news conference Sunday, Assistant Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee said officers then entered the home, and, after an altercation with Aiyana's grandmother, one of the officers accidentally discharged his weapon, hitting Aiyana in the neck and killing her. That officer, who has not been identified, is on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete.
"This is any parent's worst nightmare. It is also any police officer's nightmare. And today this nightmare is all too real," Godbee said.
But the Jones' attorney said the video proves that the Detroit police actually shot and killed Aiyana through the window of her home and are involved in a cover-up.
"Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch," Fieger told the AP. Fieger said the accounts of the incident offered by Detroit police are "utter fabrications."
The Michigan State Police and the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners are both using the tape to investigate.
"We want to see if the proper procedure ... was used, and what measures can be instigated with regard to policy development that can minimize future incidents like this," Mohamed Okdie, head of the Board of Police Commissioners, told The Detroit News.
With the advent of YouTube, it is no longer unusual for video recordings to alter the outcome of a high-profile investigation. Earlier this year, police in Maryland dropped charges against two University of Maryland students after a video emerged of the officers beating the students seemingly without provocation.
But while A&E's video in Detroit may help investigators piece together what happened, some fear the network's cameras themselves may have contributed to the 7-year-old's death.
Some, including one former attorney for Aiyana's family, believe the presence of the reality-TV show crew may have encouraged police officers to act with more bravado than necessary. Attorney Karri Mitchell, who was replaced by Fieger, said the police "were excited; they were on TV."
Mitchell told The Detroit News that the TV show's need for drama may have inspired the officers to act with too much force.
"They didn't have to throw a grenade through the front window when they knew there were children in there," she said.
But Steven Chermak of Michigan State University, a criminal justice professor, said he doesn't think the cameras would cause officers to act differently.
"I don't think it would be a distraction," Chermak told The Detroit News.
For better or worse, the cameras of "The First 48" seem to have become a part of the activities of the Detroit police. On its website, the show promises to take viewers "behind the scenes of real-life investigations with unprecedented access to crime scenes, autopsies, forensic processing and interrogations.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/tv-show-videoed-police-raid-in-detroit-that-killed-aiyana-jones/19481558?icid=main|main|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Ftv-show-videoed-police-raid-in-detroit-that-killed-aiyana-jones%2F19481558"]
Source[/URL]
The police caused the clusterfuck here, and they should be taking responsibility for their inability to control the situation they created.
I would like to see the video.
[QUOTE=RedBlade2021;22034459]I would like to see the video.[/QUOTE]
In the source link.
[quote]But the Jones' attorney said the video proves that the Detroit police actually shot and killed Aiyana through the window of her home and are involved in a cover-up.
"Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch," Fieger told the AP. Fieger said the accounts of the incident offered by Detroit police are "utter fabrications."
[/quote]
:sigh:
Where's the video?
I doubt they are going to release the actual video while the investigation is ongoing.
Why would you want to see a video of an innocent child being robbed of life?
[QUOTE=CPPNOOB;22039034]Why would you want to see a video of an innocent child being robbed of life?[/QUOTE]
Craving for sensation.
Christ, not only did they act very unprofessionally, they covered up their fuck up and tried to get off. This is just terrible.
[QUOTE=CPPNOOB;22039034]Why would you want to see a video of an innocent child being robbed of life?[/QUOTE]
It's the internet.
They probably get off on it.
These police shouldn't be police, If you do something wrong, admit it and face the consequences.
Not just "O SHIT WE NEED TO COVER THIS UP, TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE! :downs:"
[QUOTE=CPPNOOB;22039034]Why would you want to see a video of an innocent child being robbed of life?[/QUOTE]
Uh, because it makes the difference in deciding whether these police officers are a bunch of fucking testosterone shooting nimrods or not?
Completely fire EVERYONE who was involved in covering that shit up and give them 1 to 3 years in prison.
THAT is justice.
It's not really that surprising. The police do cover-ups all the time, even if they know they are wrong.
Even if they are found guilty, they won't get into as much trouble as regular citizens would for killing someone.
[QUOTE=Keyblockor;22039355]These police shouldn't be police, If you do something wrong, admit it and face the consequences.
Not just "O SHIT WE NEED TO COVER THIS UP, TO PROTECT OUR OWN ASSES! :downs:"[/QUOTE]
Fixed that for you.
So a camera team is not distracting or encouraging you to act cool for the camera? 'Course not.
[editline]12:19PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;22039748]Uh, because it makes the difference in deciding whether these police officers are a bunch of fucking testosterone shooting nimrods or not?[/QUOTE]
And you are the one who has to decide that?
[QUOTE=Johnnsen;22040615]So a camera team is not distracting or encouraging you to act cool for the camera? 'Course not.[/QUOTE]
Maybe if you aren't a trained professional and act as such at all times.
[QUOTE=davidofmk771;22040776]Maybe if you aren't a trained professional and act as such at all times.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't dismiss the possibility though. It were trained professionals who shot a child and threw a grenade into a house with children.
[QUOTE=Johnnsen;22040784]I wouldn't dismiss the possibility though. It were trained professionals who shot a child and threw a grenade into a house with children.[/QUOTE]
Then they aren't acting like trained professionals.
Oh wow, I watch the first 48 too :O
Don't blame him. I'm pretty sure that 7 year old was reaching for a gun on the couch!
How were they to know a kid was in there? I think tear gas or something of the sort would have been abit more justifiable and not a incendiary grenade. And the random gunshot was altogether unnecessary
[QUOTE=InsanePyro;22042631]How were they to know a kid was in there? I think tear gas or something of the sort would have been abit more justifiable and not a incendiary grenade. And the random gunshot was altogether unnecessary[/QUOTE]
Didn't they already know that there were children inside?
[QUOTE=InsanePyro;22042631]How were they to know a kid was in there? I think tear gas or something of the sort would have been abit more justifiable and not a incendiary grenade. And the random gunshot was altogether unnecessary[/QUOTE]
"I don't know if a kid is in here may as well put a gunshot through the window heh!"
[QUOTE=Perfumly;22042792]"I don't know if a kid is in here may as well put a gunshot through the window heh!"[/QUOTE]
"Just in case, lets throw a flash bang that, in close proximity, can severely burn somebody!"
As I said...a flashbang seems justifiable...a gunshot not
[QUOTE=InsanePyro;22042829]As I said...a flashbang seems justifiable...a gunshot not[/QUOTE]
Both aren't justifiable. They KNEW children were in the home. It was completely unnecessary to throw a flashbang. They were hyped on that they were being filmed and going to be on TV and that might have influenced their actions.
Lets see...getting shot (maybe) or (maybe) burning someone. I'll take the ladder
But as I said...the gunshot is very unnecessary
And yet another reason why cops shouldn't have filming crew following them
[QUOTE=InsanePyro;22043008]Lets see...getting shot (maybe) or (maybe) burning someone. I'll take the ladder
But as I said...the gunshot is very unnecessary
And yet another reason why cops shouldn't have filming crew following them[/QUOTE]
Both were unnecessary. They knew children were in the house. The girl suffered severe burns from the flashbang before she was shot through the neck.
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