Update on killing of elderly black ex-Marine by police: no charges will be filed

[HiPointDem]

22. That's a travesty. Democracy Now reportage includes some of the video/audio evidence:

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/5/exclusive_cop_in_fatal_shooting_of

MAYO BARTLETT: It’s astonishing. I mean, you hear the people who called you to give assistance say, "We are canceling our request for assistance." The police ignore that. They say it’s too late for that. The same company says that "We have Mr. Chamberlain’s son, who lives only five minutes away."

AMY GOODMAN: That’s you, Kenneth.

MAYO BARTLETT: "Do you mind if we contact his son, so you can speak to him? Maybe he can help you." They say, "We don’t need any mediators." His sister, Mr. Chamberlain’s sister, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.’s aunt, was on the phone, and they were asking whether she could speak with her brother. The police said no. And at one point, when Tonyia Greenhill is present, what occurs is—

AMY GOODMAN: This is your cousin.

KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN JR.: Yes.

MAYO BARTLETT: Yes. She’s downstairs, and she overhears the police asking Mr. Chamberlain, "Do you have any family?" She goes over to give assistance. She says, "I’m his niece." They ignore that. So they’ve had every opportunity to take advantage of people who could have been of assistance. And again, it’s not a situation where they were investigating a crime and they’re putting a civilian into harm’s way. They’re there to give assistance. And in particular, if you’re dealing with an elderly individual, you don’t know whether that person even has dementia or whether they’re actually able to give you all of their medical history. If you have a family member that’s present, you should take full advantage of the fact that that individual is there.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And I think that the—that’s a critical point, in discussions with you, not only that they seem to have made up their minds that they were going to just go in there, but also that even when they did make up their minds, there was someone in full body gear that could have led the way, been the first person in there. But they claim—but that person did not go in, and instead it was these officers who went in there and who then claim that Mr. Chamberlain came at them with a knife, and they had no recourse but to shoot.