{"id":17349,"date":"2016-12-16T04:31:56","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T04:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=17349"},"modified":"2016-12-16T04:31:56","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T04:31:56","slug":"milwaukee-officer-charged-in-shooting-that-set-off-riots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/milwaukee-officer-charged-in-shooting-that-set-off-riots.html","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Officer Charged in Shooting That Set Off Riots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Milwaukee Officer Charged in Shooting That Set Off Riots<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Milwaukee Officer Charged in Shooting That Set Off Riots:-<\/strong> A Milwaukee police officer fatally shot a man in August just after the man had thrown his gun away and lay on the ground unarmed, the authorities said on Thursday as they charged the officer with homicide.<\/span><\/p>\n

The officer, Dominique Heaggan-Brown, 24, killed Sylville K. Smith, 23, seconds after Mr. Smith fled on foot after a traffic stop. The shooting set off two nights of rioting here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Police officials have said that Mr. Smith was carrying a stolen handgun with a large-capacity magazine, and that he pointed it at the officer before the officer fired. But the criminal complaint filed on Thursday gives a somewhat different picture, based on video recorded by body cameras worn by Officer Heaggan-Brown and his partner. That video has not been made public.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the video, Mr. Smith \u201cturns his head and upper body toward the officers,\u201d according to an investigator\u2019s affidavit cited in the complaint. \u201cHe then raises the gun upward while looking in the direction of the officers and throws the gun over the fence into the yard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Mr. Smith was raising the gun, the complaint says, Officer Heaggan-Brown fired his own weapon, the bullet passed through Mr. Smith\u2019s arm and Mr. Smith fell on his back. \u201cHeaggan-Brown is observed standing a short distance from Smith with his weapon pointed down at Smith when Heaggan-Brown discharges a second shot from his weapon,\u201d the complaint says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Smith was hit in the chest.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Milwaukee County district attorney\u2019s office charged Mr. Heaggan-Brown, who was fired in October, with first-degree reckless homicide, which is punishable by up to 60 years in prison. The case was investigated by the State Department of Justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several high-profile police shootings in Wisconsin have spurred protests in recent years, including the 2014 death of Dontre Hamilton, a black man who was shot 14 times by a white officer; the officer was dismissed, but not charged with a crime. Mr. Smith, who had an extensive arrest record, was black, as is Mr. Heaggan-Brown, but many residents viewed the shooting in the context of a history of excessive force by the Milwaukee police against black people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate that the district attorney has shown independence and sound judgment in prosecuting the officer who shot and killed Sylville,\u201d Mr. Smith\u2019s family said in a statement released by their lawyer. \u201cWe also appreciate that this is but the first step in holding that officer accountable, but a necessary step in bringing some measure of justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fred Royal, president of the Milwaukee chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said it was \u201csurprising\u201d but heartening that an officer had been charged in a fatal shooting here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beginning, I guess,\u201d Mr. Royal said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a real frustration here that these types of charges have not been filed against officers in several incidents that have occurred.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Royal also criticized the authorities for not releasing the body camera footage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo think that a community does not have the capacity to fully appreciate what they see on a video, in this day and age, is just egregious in my perspective,\u201d Mr. Royal said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mayor Tom Barrett said he also favored the release of the videos, which he said he has not seen. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to note that the evidence that the district attorney based his decision on was primarily provided by the cameras, the body cameras that were worn by the Milwaukee police,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Heaggan-Brown was placed on desk duty after the shooting. In October, he was charged with sexual assault and other offenses unrelated to the shooting, and the Police Department fired him on Oct. 31.<\/span><\/p>\n

On paper, he had seemed like the ideal recruit for a department trying to build bridges to the communities it serves: a young African-American man, an aspiring rapper who graduated from a public high school on Milwaukee\u2019s north side.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a number of questions have emerged about Mr. Heaggan-Brown\u2019s character, and whether the Police Department missed a pattern of troubling behavior. One rap video obtained by the local media appears to show Mr. Heaggan-Brown saying that he would \u201cstart a riot like Baltimore.\u201d Records also show that his probationary period as an officer was extended, though it was unclear why.<\/span><\/p>\n

David B. Owens, a lawyer for the Smith family, said in an interview on Thursday that he wanted more information.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt raises real questions, like \u2018How could you hire a guy like this?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd should there have been obvious red flags when the city of Milwaukee decided to hire him? Should he have been on a shorter leash given those red flags?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Heaggan-Brown\u2019s lawyers, who said they had not seen the videos, declined to speak in detail about the charges. \u201cReading the four corners of the criminal complaint\u201d said one of the lawyers, Steven R. Kohn, \u201cit would certainly seem that there are arguments to be had about what happened here and whether a crime was committed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The president of the local police union did not respond to messages seeking comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The New York Times requested Mr. Heaggan-Brown\u2019s personnel file more than six weeks ago, but the records have not yet been released. An officer said this week that the documents were not likely to be ready until after the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Heaggan-Brown has been in jail since October, after he was charged with two counts of sexual assault, as well as hiring prostitutes and illegally recording nudity. In one incident, the night after he killed Mr. Smith, prosecutors said that he arranged to meet a man at a bar, where they watched television coverage of the rioting and drank heavily, and the officer \u201cbragged about being able to do whatever\u201d he wanted \u201cwithout repercussions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later that night, the man said, Mr. Heaggan-Brown sexually assaulted him after getting him drunk. The next morning, according to prosecutors, Mr. Heaggan-Brown dropped the man off at a hospital and texted a superior officer that he had messed up \u201cbig time\u201d and needed \u201cto handle this the most secret and right way possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Owens said that the homicide charge was \u201ca first major step at getting accountability.\u201d He said Mr. Smith\u2019s family, which has declined interview requests, was continuing to grieve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/12\/15\/us\/sylville-smith-milwaukee-police-shooting-dominique-heaggan-brown.html?_r=0<\/span><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t