A Connecticut official who fatally shot a 19-year-old black man after a car chase two years ago has been charged with manslaughter, state investigators said Wednesday.
The policeman, Brian D. North, who is white, fired seven shots on January 15, 2020 through the window of the driver of a stolen vehicle driven by Mubarak Suleman. Mr Soulemane, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, acted chaotically that day, according to people he met before leading officers in a persecution that ended in West Haven.
Police shooters with the participation of white employees and black drivers – the death of Patrick Lyo, a male of Michigan, killed this month by a policeman, was recent – they raised questions about the use of lethal force during routine traffic stops and after persecutions. At the time of Mr Soulemane’s death, the Connecticut heads of the NAACP and ACLU called on the authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.
“We have been fighting in Connecticut for many, many years because of police brutality, police misconduct and officers leaving without consequences,” said Scott H. Esdale, president of the NAACP Connecticut State Conference, on Wednesday. He said the decision “shows a promise that I am moving in the right direction and that this type of behavior will not be accepted in Connecticut.”
On Wednesday, Chief State Inspector Robert J. Devlin Jr. found that the use of deadly force was not justified in the case of Mr Soulemane, who was behind the wheel and holding a knife when Mr North shot him.
“At the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor anyone else was in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed by a knife attack at Soulemane’s hands,” Mr Devlin said in a report. 133 pages. “Besides, any belief that people are in such danger is unreasonable.”
The officer was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter before being released on $ 50,000 bail, investigators said on Wednesday. He is expected to appear in Milford Supreme Court on May 3.
“No soldier ever intends to take someone else’s life; “We have no desire for that,” Andrew Matthews, executive director of the Connecticut Police Syndicate, told a news conference on Wednesday. “And I don’t think so – we don’t think that was the goal in this case,” he said, adding that “Trooper North decided for a split second during some very unusual and very difficult circumstances.”
The state police said they had left Mr North on paid administrative leave and that his “police powers had been suspended pending criminal proceedings”.
The announcement came a year after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd, an unarmed man accused of shoplifting. Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes while passers-by filmed the death.
The case paved the way for the authorities to bring charges against Mr North, said Mark D. Ahrons, a lawyer representing Mr Suleman’s family.
“Undoubtedly, if this happened some time before George Floyd, it may not be this way, with charges raised,” Mr Ahrons said in a telephone interview, adding that Mr Soulemane’s family “may to breathe at least an instant sigh of relief, knowing that their prayers for justice, at least initially, have been answered. ”
Mr Soulemane’s shooting came at the end of a period of paranoid behavior, according to accounts detailed in a report by the inspector general, who is conducting investigations involving peacekeepers.
Around 4:15 p.m., Mr. Soulemane entered an AT&T store in Norwalk carrying a kitchen knife before attempting to steal an iPhone 11. A manager grabbed the phone and Mr. Soulemane ran out of the store. Mr Soulemane approached Daniel Green, a Lyft driver, whom Mr Soulemane called to pick him up from the shop, and invited Mr Green to drive.
When the car pulled away, he saw Norwalk Police officers around AT&T.
Mr Soulemane then hit Mr Green, who immediately stopped at a petrol station and signaled to police. While doing so, Mr Soulemane moved to the position of Hyundai Sonata driver. A policeman ran to the car and tried to open the door, but Mr. Soulemane backed away.
Officers pursued Mr Soulemane before state soldiers, including Mr North, began the pursuit on I-95.
At 17:04 Mr Soulemane left the Interstate and collided with another vehicle. According to the report, Mr. North and two other US soldiers boarded and boxed at the Sonata.
A police officer from West Haven, who also arrived at the scene, smashed the passenger’s window, the report said. A state soldier shoved his stun gun through a broken window at Mr. Soulemane, who raised his hand and aimed his knife at the roof of the car.
Mr. North fired his pistol seven times, then shouted, “Throw the knife!”
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