Death Penalty News

Three San Antonio police officers have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a woman who was experiencing what the city's police chief said was a “mental health crisis.” Sgt. Alfred Flores and Officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos were suspended without pay and later arrested on murder warrants in the shooting death of Melissa Perez, 46, when she refused police orders to come out of her apartment, Police Chief William McManus said Friday. “The officers' actions were not consistent with SAPD's policy and training,” McManus said during a Friday night news conference. “They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them,” McManus said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Americans awoke Sunday to charred and glass-strewn streets in dozens of cities after another night of unrest fueled by rage over the mistreatment of African Americans at the hands of police, who responded to the violence with tear gas and rubber bullets. Tens of thousands marched peacefully to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. But many demonstrations sank into chaos as night fell: Cars and businesses were torched. The words “I can’t breathe” were spray-painted all over buildings. The damaged buildings include many near the White House. The scale of the protests, extending to nearly every part of the country and unfolding on a single night, seemed to rival the historic demonstrations of the civil rights and Vietnam eras. And by Sunday morning, the outrage had spread to Europe, where thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square. D...

I STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH AFRICAN AMERICANS CALLING FOR AN END TO POLICE BRUTALITY… MAY GEORGE FLOYD’S CRUEL KILLING BECOME A MORAL IMPERATIVE TO WORK IN OUR COMMUNITIES FOR RADICAL POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM I saw the video. I made myself watch the full atrocity, hearing George Floyd’s hoarse whisper: “I can’t breathe” to Officer Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. Would this be just one more instance of a black person’s death at the hands of a white policeman, followed by prolonged “investigations” that in the end might finally result in a firing, maybe, a civil lawsuit, maybe, a temporary removal from duty, maybe, or even a trial of the perpetrator, which all too often would result in an acquittal, but rarely, if ever, an arrest and charge of murder or even manslaughter. Until George Floyd. Now, across the nation, “I can’t breathe,” has become the rallying cry of nationwide protests against police brutality of Black Ame...

(CNN) -- George Floyd's family spoke to both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden this week following Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Speaking to MSNBC's Al Sharpton, George's brother, Philonise Floyd, said his conversation with President Trump was "so fast." "He didn't give me an opportunity to even speak," Floyd said. "It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept, like, pushing me off, like 'I don't want to hear what you're talking about.' "And I just told him, I want justice. I said that I couldn't believe that they committed a modern-day lynching in broad daylight," he said. "I asked Vice President Biden -- I never had to beg a man before -- but I asked him, could he please, please get justice for my brother," Floyd said. "I need it. I do not want to see him on a shirt just like the other guys. Nobody deserved that. Black folk...

George Floyd riots spiralled out of control Saturday night as cop cars were torched, stores were looted and at least 11 states activated the National Guard on a fifth night of protests that show no signs of stopping.  Scenes of destruction continued to spread across America as the death of the black man at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin ignited outrage over what many feel is a systemic problem with police brutality against African-American men. In Minneapolis, protesters were seen fleeing after cops hurled tear gas into the crowds while some responded by launching fireworks back at officers.   The National Guard was activated to defend the White House from attack as the Secret Service agents on the ground struggled to keep control of crowds descending on the seat of the US government. The Big Apple was ablaze as NYPD vehicles were torched and ransacked while shocking footage emerged of cops violently detaining protesters.  A man was left ...

✔   Click here to Google translate this story into your own language Disturbios en una treintena de ciudades, de Los Ángeles a las puertas de la Casa Blanca, donde Trump advirtió a los manifestantes de que serían recibidos con "los perros más feroces y las armas más amenazantes” De Seattle a Houston, de Los Ángeles a las puertas mismas de la Casa Blanca, donde el presidente Trump advirtió vía Twitter de que, si los centenares de manifestantes hubieran osado atravesar la valla, ”habrían sido recibidos por los perros más feroces y las armas más amenazantes”. Un joven de 19 años muerto en Detroit, según la policía de la ciudad, después de que alguien abriera fuego desde una furgoneta contra un grupo de manifestantes. Un guardia de seguridad abatido en Oakland. Saqueos en Portland y declaración del estado de emergencia. Cortes de autopistas en Milwaukee. El cuartel general de la CNN en Atlanta, atacado. Centenares de detenidos y coches de policía ardiendo en Nueva York. Uno...

Former President Barack Obama released a statement on the unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and across the country over the police killing of George Floyd. Obama called on everyone — including law enforcement — to work together to create a “new normal” that overcomes bigotry and unequal treatment of black Americans. “It’s natural to wish for life ‘to just get back to normal’ as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us,” said Obama in the statement . “But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly, ‘normal.’ ... This shouldn’t be normal in 2020 America.” The statement, released on Twitter Friday, references an email the former president received from a middle-aged African American businessman explaining his distress over the Floyd killing. “The ‘knee on the neck’ is a metaphor for how the system so cavalierly holds black folks down, ignoring the cries for help. Peo...

What we're seeing right now across the country is rightful outrage after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man on Monday.  Video footage of the scene taken by a bystander shows officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, with his knee on George’s neck, pinning him to the ground. George, handcuffed and subdued, can be heard pleading with Derek to remove his knee — repeatedly crying out “I can’t breathe,” until he becomes unresponsive.  George’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” were the same words we heard from Eric Garner, who died after police officers in New York City put him in a chokehold while arresting him in 2014. Eric was being arrested for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, which he denied doing. But he was never even given the chance to prove his innocence. The accusation levelled against George wasn’t selling cigarettes, but purchasing them with an allegedly counterfeit $20 bill. And like Eric Garner, George was shown no ...