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Summer of 2020---The Civil Unrest Thread--Read OP Before Posting (in memory of George Floyd)

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The Minneapolis police officer who maced protesters and bystanders is unmasked by court documents

 

Days after the police murder of George Floyd, a Minneapolis police officer rolled down her window and sprayed a huge blast of mace at protesters and bystanders as a convoy of squad cars drove through a protest in downtown Minneapolis.

 

The incident was caught on a viral video by Star Tribune reporter Jennifer Brooks, who got hit with the mace and tweeted “Well THAT was uncalled for.” Her Twitter video has been viewed over 4 million times.

 

For over two years, people have wondered who the officer was, and whether they were disciplined. Recently released court documents have now revealed the officer’s identity: Samantha Belcourt.

 

In a twist of particular interest to “Arrested Development” fans, Belcourt now runs a frozen banana food truck in Arizona with her wife, according to an Alpha News story about why she left the Minneapolis Police Department weeks after Floyd’s murder. 

 

She received a $150,000 workers’ compensation settlement from the city in March and receives over $59,000 per year in pension payments after retiring early due to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to state records. 

 

She joins a cavalcade of Minneapolis police officers who have retired early due to PTSD since Floyd’s killing sparked worldwide protests and calls for police reform.

 

The identity and fate of the officer who did the drive-by macing has long been a topic of discussion on social media — primarily because city records have never shown an officer was disciplined. But disciplinary investigations end when an officer leaves the force.  

 

During a deposition in Arizona in May for an excessive force lawsuit protesters filed against the city of Minneapolis, Belcourt acknowledged spraying the mace at people downtown, where she estimated a couple thousand protesters and others congregated. 

 

She said she and other squads were en route to “rescue” officers who were outnumbered, surrounded and being pelted with bricks and construction debris from a nearby dumpster.

As her squad car headed that way, a crowd blocked the street and people threw construction cones and barrels at their car, she said. 

 

“The danger was extremely high at that situation,” she said during the deposition.

 

So, when she saw the “very violent” crowd start to converge on the squad cars, she used the “lowest form of force” available — mace — and the crowd dispersed. Brooks’ video does not show a crowd in front of her car, although it doesn’t capture the scene on the road farther ahead.

 

“By this point, we had done a lot of rescues and a lot of escorts and driven through a lot of angry crowds,” she said. “We knew what the patterns were.” 

 

MPD policy bans the use of less-than-lethal force by officers except to protect themselves and others from physical harm. Belcourt said she feared for her life and the lives of the other officers they were trying to reach.

 

Belcourt declined to comment for this story.

 

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13 hours ago, China said:

In a twist of particular interest to “Arrested Development” fans, Belcourt now runs a frozen banana food truck in Arizona with her wife, according to an Alpha News story about why she left the Minneapolis Police Department weeks after Floyd’s murder. 

 

She received a $150,000 workers’ compensation settlement from the city in March and receives over $59,000 per year in pension payments after retiring early due to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to state records.

There's always money in the "assaulting citizens and then claiming PTSD retirement" stand.

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Lawsuit can proceed against Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse

 

A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others.

 

The father of Anthony Huber, one of two men shot and killed by Rittenhouse, filed the lawsuit in 2021, accusing officers of allowing for a dangerous situation that violated his son's constitutional rights and resulted in his death. Anthony Huber's father, John Huber, also alleged that Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors. John Huber is seeking unspecified damages from city officials, officers and Rittenhouse.

 

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Wednesday dismissed motions filed by Rittenhouse and the government defendants seeking to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit.

 

In allowing the case against Rittenhouse and the others to proceed, the judge said that Anthony Huber's death "could plausibly be regarded as having been proximately caused by the actions of the governmental defendants."

 

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Philadelphia to pay $9.25 million settlement over response to protests after George Floyd murder

 

The City of Philadelphia will pay $9.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the city's response to the protests and civil unrest in the spring of 2020 that followed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

 

Officials said the money will be distributed among 343 plaintiffs in connection with police actions during the protests that erupted in West Philadelphia and along the Vine Street Expressway (I-676) in Center City.

 

Police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters trapped on I-676 by SWAT team officers on both sides. Many were unable to retreat to an on-ramp and clambered to get up a steep embankment and over a concrete wall and fence.

 

"The absurdity of being a subject of police brutality, during a protest against police brutality, was not lost on us," said Ed Parker, who was among the protesters on the expressway.

Three demonstrators on the highway were sprayed at close range in their faces by former police officer Richard Nicoletti, who was later arrested and charged with assault.

 

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Police initiative to tackle racism accused of being racist

 

An initiative to tackle racism in policing in England and Wales is itself facing allegations of racism from some of the ethnic minority staff involved.

 

The Police Race Action Plan was launched after African-American George Floyd was murdered in the US in 2020.

 

It aims to help police build better relationships with black communities.

 

However, BBC Newsnight has spoken to former members of staff who said their perspectives were ignored.

 

One black person, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC they believed people like them were seen as "troublemakers or difficult" for providing their perspectives.

 

They said: "It was openly questioned if black people were even needed to work on the plan. I increasingly felt my voice and - at times - my lived and professional experience were being ignored."

 

The staff member added that they were treated differently to their white colleagues, giving the example of not being offered more support when the workload increased.

 

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) developed the race action plan with the College of Policing.

 

Published last May, it states: "We accept that policing still contains racism, discrimination and bias. We are ashamed of those truths, we apologise for them and we are determined to change them. We have much to do to secure the confidence of black people, including our own staff, and improve their experience of policing - and we will."

 

The NPCC's chairman and Police Race Action Plan lead, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, said he was passionate about delivering "an anti-discrimination, anti-racist police service".

 

"I take extremely seriously any concerns raised internally or externally about the conduct of anyone within policing. Anyone who carries toxic attitudes - be that racist, misogynist, homophobic or discriminatory - does not belong in policing."

 

He added that he had made a commitment that those who trust the police the least should have the most opportunity to influence, "and these experiences will influence how I lead the programme".

 

But the BBC has seen documentation that outlines other complaints from people from ethnic minorities involved with the programme, with some questioning the credibility of the plan and its true intentions.

 

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New York City reaches $13.7 million settlement for police response to protests over killing of George Floyd

 

City officials have agreed to pay more $13.7 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit over how protesters were treated during Black Lives Matter protests.

 

Experts say the settlement is among the most expensive in history.

 

On Thursday, CBS New York heard from plaintiffs, who said they were beaten and arrested during the George Floyd protests in 2020, the movement swept across New York City and the nation that summer, as activists went to the streets to protest violence.

 

But they say they were met with more violence.

 

Barbara Ross said she was riding her bike during a peaceful protest, when a police van moved in.

 

"She was riding right into me, just quickly opened up the door and grabbed my handlebars, and that made me fly because I was going fast," Ross said.

 

Ross said she broke her foot during that fall.

 

Dara Pluchino said she was at a peaceful protest in the Bronx, when the NYPD used a crowd-control technique called "kettling" just before curfews kicked in.

 

"So when the curfew hit, then mass arrests and violence occurred where police were batoning, were using pepper spray," Pluchino said.

 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 1,300 people who are each will likely get nearly $10,000 once the settlement is approved by a judge.

 

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