Supply: Martinez, California, police / Martinez Police
Three now former Martinez, California, law enforcement officials have been fired over the 2023 capturing of two brothers, each Black, one in all whom died. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem that the officers had been terminated because of the capturing in and of itself. As an alternative, they had been fired for his or her conduct after the pictures had been fired and in the course of the arrest of the surviving brother.
In keeping with KRON 4, Tahmon Wilson and Tommy Wilson had been shot by MPD officers on Aug. 18, 2023, outdoors Velvet, a hashish dispensary in Martinez. Tahmon was fatally wounded after being shot at the back of the top. Tommy survived after being shot twice within the again. In keeping with the police, the 2 brothers triggered a safety alarm on the dispensary and had been suspected of making an attempt to burglarize the place. In keeping with attorneys for the victims’ household, Tommy and Tahmon had been driving away from Velvet when the officers opened fireplace on them.
After the capturing, one of many officers, recognized as Giani Arone, mentioned to Tommy, who once more, had simply been shot within the again twice, “Play silly video games, win silly prizes.” An officer was additionally accused of placing Tommy a number of instances for no discernable motive after he was handcuffed and — I’m simply going to change to all caps for a second right here — SHOT IN THE BACK TWO TIMES!
From KRON:
Police say the brothers had been making an attempt to flee the scene when the sedan crashed into a hearth hydrant.
MPD wrote, “Within the days following the August 18, 2023 incident, the Martinez Police Division grew to become conscious of alleged misconduct that occurred on the scene, after the pictures had been fired.”
Tommy was a passenger within the sedan. Officer Arone, who arrived on scene after the capturing, struck Tommy together with his knee whereas Tommy was handcuffed, police mentioned.
Chief White wrote in a letter to Arone, “You violated a number of Martinez Police Division insurance policies throughout this incident. One of many suspects — who had been shot — exited the car on the course of officers and was then handcuffed with out resisting. Whereas pulling him, you delivered two or three knee strikes to the suspect’s head/face space. Pressure was not justified as a result of the suspect was handcuffed, not resisting, and never disobeying any instructions.”
After Arone discovered that Tommy had been shot by officers, Arone taunted the wounded man, telling him, “Play silly video games, win silly prizes,” in line with the police chief.
Taunting an individual who had simply been shot by police, handcuffed, and victimized by extreme power, was “disgraceful conduct,” the chief wrote.
Officer Arone then agreed to cover two knives for Officer Tirona, one of many officers concerned within the capturing. “One of many knives is a kind that’s prohibited to be worn on obligation,” the chief wrote, and Arone hid the knives for Tirona to hide them from investigators.
Tirona and a second officer within the capturing, Bennett, had been booted from the police division for the alleged knife cover-up.
In an ideal world — or a minimum of one the place the justice system was truthful and cops had been held to the identical requirements because the residents they police — the cops who shot the 2 brothers could be going through legal prices, not simply the lack of their jobs, which, as we all know properly, gained’t prohibit them from being employed by one other police division. In spite of everything, nothing reported concerning the incident explains why it was obligatory to make use of lethal power on tried theft suspects who didn’t pose a right away menace to anybody and should not have been responsible of what they had been suspected of doing.
“There isn’t a affordable or lawful rationalization for the deadly power employed by the 4 officers concerned,” mentioned Tommy’s lawyer, Adanté Pointer of Pointer and Buelna regulation agency. “State regulation prohibits utilizing lethal power towards a fleeing car that doesn’t pose a right away menace.”
Because it stands, the 4 officers who opened fireplace on Tahmon and Tommy Wilson are nonetheless being investigated by the California Division of Justice. Martinez Police Chief Andrew White recognized the officers as: Cole Bennett, Marc Kahue, Raul Ceja-Mendez, and Alexander Tirona.
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