Free Thought Project by Matt Agorist
Topeka, KS — A 911 call over a disturbance in a local park would come to a violent end as police opened fire on a fleeing man earlier this year. The two officers would dump multiple rounds into the man’s back, killing him. After police investigated themselves, this week, the officers who fired their weapons, killing 30-year-old Dominique White have been justified in their use of force.
The incident began on the morning of Septemeber 28 at 9:20 a.m. when officers with the Topeka police department said someone called to report shots being fired during a disturbance in Ripley Park. Police said the caller noted that both of the people involved in the disturbance were still in the park.
Two unnamed officers responded to the call and within only minutes, White would be fatally shot.
In a press conference after the shooting, Topeka police Lt. Colleen Stuart explained that officers who arrived at the scene “encountered a suspicious person in the area.” While investigating the individual, Stuart said, officers saw that he had a handgun.
“In the process of trying to secure the firearm, the individual struggled with officers and attempted to flee,” Stuart said. “While fleeing from officers, the individual reached for the pocket containing the firearm, causing the officers to fire their weapons.”
The statement from the Topeka police department contradicted the report from the officers which said White had a firearm but it never once said White was fleeing when they shot him.
“We are not confirming or disputing anything the Topeka Police Department has released, but I would point out that what we released and what they released are not conflicting,” Lawrence police officer Drew Fennelly said in an email after the shooting.
In spite of this glaring discrepancy from the start, the Lawrence Police Department was allowed to investigate their neighbors in the Topeka department. On November 29, they sent the results of their “investigation” to the District Attorney’s office who took the department’s word and cleared the officers.
“It is my decision that the use of force in this matter was lawful under Kansas law and the United States Constitution. It is further my opinion that no reasonable judge or jury would find the actions of either officer involved in this matter to be unlawful,” the DA’s statement read.
A key claim made by the Lawrence Police Department in clearing the officers was that White ” hovered his left hand over the pocket containing the gun, making him a threat to use deadly force” as he ran away. However, when reviewing the body camera footage—released publicly this week—White doesn’t appear to be hovering his hand over the pocket at all when police open fire. He simply appears to be running away.
White’s shooting was so disturbing that immediately after witnessing it, dozens of people began gathering around the officers in protest.
In response, several dozen officers from the Topeka Police Department, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kansas Highway Patrol were called in to quash the dissent.
Although the department never released the officers’ names, according to a report from the Topeka-Capital Journal, the video shows one of the officers is Michael Cruse, who was a figure in two other high-profile incidents: the fatal shooting of a retired judge’s dog in 2015 and the 2002 traffic death of a man he struck with his vehicle during a high-speed response to a burglar alarm.
To illustrate how easily frightened Cruse is, the dog he shot in 2015 was a tiny miniature Doberman-pinscher-boxer mix. It weighed only 26 pounds and was securing the family’s backyard.
In the 2002 incident, Cruse killed an innocent 61-year-old man, was sentenced to a year in jail for vehicular homicide—but was rehired by the department a year later. You cannot make this up.
When watching the video below ask yourself if this incident could’ve been handled without killing White. Indeed, the video and subsequent lack of charges in this case now set a disturbing precedent—cops can shoot and kill a fleeing man in the back, on video, lie about it in their report, and face no consequences.
Now if a citizen shot someone in the back in their home, they would be charged with manslaughter or even murder since the “victim” was trying to flee the home, I’m a big supporter of all LEO’s but they should NEVER shoot someone in the back
A whaaaa, davey?
“1.
a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien ).
2.
an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises.
3.
an inhabitant, or denizen:
The deer is a citizen of our woods.
4.
a civilian, as distinguished from a soldier, police officer, etc.”
YOU may be and it shows. Free men are NOT. Your unwavering support of “leo” needs to be rethought. Be a second-class serf all you want but leave the Rights of US free People out of it. “leo” do not serve and protect US in any way, shape or form, they serve and protect their corporate masters who enslave US free American Nationals.
Why would you support those scum? You should hate ALL police in America for a few basic reasons:
1. They accept pay in exchange for enforcing blatantly unconstitutional and unjust laws — laws that nearly all citizens have no control over. “Just following orders” is no more an excuse today than it has ever been.
2. They think they’re macho badasses because they’re able to verbally and physically abuse citizens while hiding behind the massive backing support of the government at all levels: their fellow pigs, the prosecutor’s office, judges, lawmakers, etc. Only occasionally does a citizen decide to retaliate, after which the pigs suddenly wax sentimental, boo hoo hooing over their fellow scum who got his.
3. Like other organized criminal syndicates, they all observe a code of silence. If you aren’t a cop yourself, even the “best” of the police would gladly see you rot in prison for a crime you didn’t commit before blowing the whistle on one of his “brother officers” who framed you.
Oh please, Davey…I have a friend who won’t support cops anymore—and she’s a retired cop!
Davey Dumbass! Follow some of these documented incidents that are all over the web. Pigs these days should be shunned by decent folks.
On the second cop’s body camera video, the suspect’s hand was near the pocket the gun was in, however he did not pull out the weapon but rather he was fleeing from the cops. My guess is that the gun was unregistered and/or he had no permit for it. The thing is, the 2nd article doesn’t state that one needs a permit, license, or any other kind of “privilege” from the “government”.
What are LEO’S?
.
Cowards , bullies , terrorists, chumps, assshoooles,
List is endless
Law Enforcement Officers L.E.O.’s
Duh.
Thank you.
🙂
.
This is what a war zone look like .
there should be a protest infront of each one of these pigs house ,,
1st amendment rights to protest ,
there should be a national register of all the cops in your state , and county
Names
Addresses
Wifes name
Kids names
Daily schedules
Assets
I’d bet a dollar to a doughnut hole that if this was done, this shit would stop or at least be delt with
FLAT LINE THE BLUE LINERS!
I like it! 🙂 One and all!
They can add that to their code blue bs.