It’s Not Just the Police
In a previous article we wrote about the part the District Attorney plays in deciding whether to prosecute officers who shoot innocent people. You need to understand that the District Attorney’s Office works closely with law enforcement. They are usually very supportive of each other. That relationship can be problematic when the D.A.’s Office needs to investigate law enforcement officers. Milwaukee has given us a perfect example of the problems that can arise when a DA chooses not to be impartial.
The below video shows the 2017 shooting of Jerry Smith Jr by Milwaukee police officers Melvin Finkley and Adam Stahl. As you can see from the video, this appears to be a completely unjustified shooting. However, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern decided it was a justified shooting and did not refer the case to the grand jury. In other words, he stopped the investigation dead in its tracks. You be the judge.
Warning! Extremely Graphic Content!
I need you to watch this.
1st, the good news – Jerry Smith, Jr. survived this horrific police shooting from the @MilwaukeePolice. He's paralyzed, but survived.
The city fought to keep this video private because the DA there lied and said this was a justified shooting. It's not. pic.twitter.com/NApqRBjzSj
— Shaun King (@shaunking) November 26, 2018
Nothing in this article about the robbery he just committed with an ACTUAL gun. I must’ve read to fast. I’ll look again.
Nope. Nothing there.
And thinking the DA and cops are just great pals is short sighted and biased. There’s not a DA out there who wouldn’t put charges on an officer to make a name for himself as a “friend to the community.”
V.M. – We didn’t deny that the individual had committed a crime but that doesn’t mean the officers are allowed to act as judge and jury. The man was complying with commands and was going to the ground as instructed. There was no threat to the lives of the officers therefore there was no reason to shoot him. And if you think that no D.A.s ever cover for officers you are extremely naïve.