"Four Delaware police
officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man in a wheelchair will not
face criminal civil rights
charges, U.S. Justice
Department officials said Friday.
Jeremy McDole, 28,
was shot by Wilmington police in September 2015 after they responded to a 911
call about an armed man who had fired a gun.
A bystander's cell
phone video shows officers repeatedly telling McDole, a career criminal who was
paralyzed in a 2005 shooting, to drop his weapon and raise his hands. McDole
can be seen reaching for his waist area before shots erupt. . . .
"They said
they left no stone unturned.... There simply wasn't enough evidence there to
sustain a criminal charge," said attorney Thomas Neuberger.
Neuberger said he's
satisfied that the federal investigation was thorough, but the family is
"very disappointed."
City of Wilmington
officials agreed last month to a $1.5 million settlement with McDole's family
and acknowledged that reviews of police policies will include training on
de-escalation techniques. A federal judge will hold a hearing Tuesday to
consider whether to approve the settlement. . . .
Witnesses
corroborated the officers' claim that McDole failed to respond to commands and
continued moving his hands around his waistband when the shots were fired,
authorities said in a news release. The investigation also revealed that
McDole's DNA was on the grip of a handgun recovered from his waistband, and
that there was gunshot residue was on his right palm and shirt sleeve, they
added. . . .
The Delaware
attorney general's office concluded in a May report that criminal charges could
not be brought against the four officers. The agency's investigation found that
six officers at the scene all reported seeing a gun in McDole's pants after he
was shot. Investigators determined that the same gun had been reported stolen.
A detective said in
a court affidavit that officers found a .38 caliber revolver with four spent
casings and two live rounds in McDole's underwear. Officials also have said
toxicology tests found evidence of marijuana and PCP, or "angel
dust," in McDole's bloodstream.
The attorney
general's report cited an unnamed individual who told investigators that on the
morning of the shooting, he had wheeled McDole to the "Browntown"
section of Wilmington so that McDole could get a gun and PCP-laced cigarettes."
Let's try not to fall into the presumption of guilt habit whenever a white cop or individual kills an black male. If Obama's DOJ didn't find enough evidence to charge the cops, the evidence wasn't there.
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