High Profile Open Cases

Sandra Bland  Bland was pulled over Friday for improper signaling a lane change, according to Waller County Sheriff’s Department officials. They say she was charged with “Assault on a Public Servant” and taken into custody by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. “After he pulled her out of the car, forced her and tossed her to the ground, knee to the neck 

Tamir Rice 12, Nov. 23-2014 Cleveland OH – At a local rec center, a witnesses reported a male was in the playground area waving a gun and pointing it at people. The man who called 911 told dispatchers the boy was on a swing set and pointing a pistol that was “probably fake” UPDATE: The city of Cleveland has agreed to pay Tamir Rice’s family $6 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed over the boy’s Nov. 23, 2014 shooting death by city police. The settlement, announced April 25, 2016 does not resolve all of the lingering legal issues surrounding the 12-year-old’s killing. Neither the city, officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback nor dispatchers involved will admit to any wrongdoing. The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a review of the case to see either officer violated any federal civil-rights laws.

Darrien Hunt Saratoga Springs Police previously said they were called to a strip mall to investigate a “suspicious individual” carrying a sword. The sword was a replica and Hunt was “just walking” around the strip mall role-playing as an anime character when he was confronted by police.
 
 
Kendrick Johnson attended Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. The thin, muscular 17-year-old played on the football and basketball teams. After attending his fourth period class on Thursday, January 10, 2013, Kendrick went missing. The next morning someone discovered the student’s body stuffed upside-down inside a rolled-up wrestling mat that stood on its end in the school gymnasium. He was dead.

Akai Gurley 28, Nov. 20, 2014 Brooklyn NY – Gurley, had spent the evening at his girlfriend Melissa Butler’s apartment. The couple left the seventh floor apartment and tried to take an elevator down to the bottom floor. When the elevator wouldn’t work, they entered the stairwell. Two officers, meanwhile, were conducting a vertical patrol, also known as a top to bottom patrol inside the building. Upon entering the “dark” stairwell on the eighth floor, Officer Peter Liang drew his gun

Rumain Brisbon 34, Dec. 2, 2014 – Phoenix AZ – Brandon Dickerson was in the car with Brisbon shortly before the shooting and witnessed some of the incident. “Brisbon was dropping off fast food to his children in the apartment. I never saw the officer try to talk with Brisbon and his friend wasn’t yelling at the officer. “Who’s gonna argue with police?” Dickerson said. “He had no death wish yesterday.” When Police checked

Walter Scott Pulled over for a broken taillight, Scott had a warrant out for his arrest, video shows. The three-minute clip starts out shaky, but it levels off as Slager and Scott appear to be grabbing at each other’s hands. as several objects fall to the

Eric Courtney Harris  44 Tulsa Oklahoma April 2, 2015 – Harris had been targeted in a sting operation over illegal weapons sales. He allegedly sold a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition to undercover investigators. In the one minute video, Harris, who is black, is seen running from police before gun shots are heard. He cries out, “He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath.” “Fuck your breath. Shut the fuck up,” an officer shouts back in response. Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, who used to be a police officer, shouted “taser, taser,” before firing his gun at Eric Harris. I shot him,” Bates immediately exclaimed. “I’m sorry.”  Harris was unarmed at the time of the shooting. He was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Bates has been charged with Manslaughter

Freddie Gray 27 Baltimore City Maryland April 17, 2015 – It is unclear why police were attempting to arrest Gray. They say he tried to run away, but a minute later, officers were able to catch and arrest him. Police say at 8:54 a.m., Gray was placed in a prisoner transport wagon bound for a police station but 30 minutes later, an ambulance was called for transport from the station house. While in police custody for committing no crime, for which they had no justification for making an arrest except that there was a black man running, his spine was virtually severed, 80 percent severed in the neck area, and he died of those injuries. Murdered by Baltimore PD UPDATE: Baltimore agreed to pay $6.4 million to the family of Freddie Gray,