A former police officer has been arrested as the suspect in the case of the "Golden State Killer" who terrorized California 40 years ago.
The post ‘Golden State’ Serial Killer Arrested for 12 Murders, 45 Rapes—Turns Out, He Was a Cop appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
An Albuquerque police officer is suing the mother of the child he killed when he sped through town going twice the legal rate of speed because it is causing him emotional distress.
The post Cop Suing Mother of 6yo Boy HE KILLED, Because it Caused HIM “Emotional Distress” appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Surprise, AZ — Body camera footage is giving new insight into the case of a 20-year-old man who was shot and killed by police after they approached him while he was sleeping in the front seat of his car—and its revelations are giving hope to the man’s family, as they pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
When Derek Adame was approached by Police Officer Joseph Gruver on Nov. 26, 2016, in Surprise, Arizona, he was reportedly asleep in his vehicle. Adame had parked his 2016 Nissan Sentra on the side of the road in a residential neighborhood, but when Gruver ran the vehicle’s plates, the car came back as stolen. Someone in the neighborhood called the police to report the suspicious vehicle, but before the sun rose in the morning, Adame would be killed, shot by Gruver.
It was not until this week that the Surprise Police Department released the body camera footage captured by the two responding officers. Officer Shaun McGonigle was Gruver’s backup. Gruver’s body camera footage shows the moments leading up to the shooting and killing in his vehicle.
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According to AZCentral, who obtained court documents related to the lawsuit, the suit alleges that “without any warning or legal justification, Defendant Gruver used willful, excessive and unreasonable force when he shot and killed Adame … Defendant Gruver’s negligent handling of his firearm resulted in Adame sustaining fatal gunshot wounds to his right forearm, torso and right shoulder.”
In an analysis of the police reports, AZCentral discovered the police officer’s statements, the police report and the body camera footage do not all add up to provide a complete description of what happened that night.
In the days after the shooting, Surprise police explained the fatal shooting by saying there was a struggle and concern that Adame was planning to drive away and purposely drag the officer. That sentiment is chronicled in the 89-page police report detailing aspects of the incident. However, Gruver’s statements to police do not exactly match what is clear on the body camera footage. Gruver, according to police reports, detailed his thoughts to investigators as he entered the passenger side of the vehicle. He struggled with Adame, who Gruver says hit the accelerator. That caused him to get “sucked into” the vehicle, according to reports.
The vehicle was barely rolling when it appears Gruver opened fire with two fatal shots. After falling out of the rolling vehicle, he radioed to dispatch “shots fired” and indicated that Adame had been hit. He then said something that was patently false: “I think I’ve been hit, too,” he said implying the suspect had shot the officer. Allowing that impression to proliferate was potentially deceptive on the part of the officer who knew he did not see a gun and had not been fired upon.
READ MORE: Innocent Man Tackled and Arrested for Filming Cops Choke a Young Man for Biking on the Sidewalk
A subsequent search of Adame’s car revealed that no firearm was found in the vehicle. Only a folding pocket knife was uncovered. However, heroin paraphernalia was reportedly recovered, which may have been the reason Adame was so jumpy in the presence of Officer Gruver. Adame’s case serves to illustrate precisely what can happen when police are called to investigate a suspicious vehicle.
As The Free Thought Project reported this week, a Maryland man, who was reportedly a heroin addict, was nearly shot and killed by Phoenix police this summer after someone called to report a suspicious vehicle. Unlike Adame, Antonio Garcia-Goff successfully drove away from police—but not before being shot at six times by Officer George Davis. Fortunately, Davis was a terrible shot and did not wound Goff with the hail of bullets.
Both encounters were recorded on body cameras worn by the police officers involved. As a result, the statements by the officers can be evaluated in light of the official recordings. Unfortunately, Adame lost his life, and if the wrongful death lawsuit his family filed is successful, taxpayers in Surprise, Arizona, will foot the bill for the alleged trigger-happy negligence of its officers. Non-compliance with police commands should not be a death sentence for motorists, yet it seems it is becoming an epidemic.
Malakoff, TX — As TFTP has frequently reported, if police officers are not held accountable for their actions in one department, they will simply change departments and continue abusing citizens. We call them gypsy cops. One such gypsy cop is Ernesto Fierro, whose time has finally come.
In 2005, Fierro was allowed to resign from the Dallas Police Department after he was involved in two hit-and-runs in which he fled the scene. That would be a felony conviction for the average citizen, but police officers are often given a pass for their crimes, allowed to resign and be employed elsewhere at another LEA (law enforcement agency).
Later, Fierro was employed in 2011 with the Ferris, Texas, Police Department when he was involved in the death of a motorcyclist during a high-speed chase. Had Fierro been held accountable for his actions in Dallas and later in Ferris, he might not have allegedly killed William Livezey Jr. (70), of New Sharon, Iowa. But, he was not held accountable and was therefore allowed to strike again.
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Fierro, the gypsy cop, left Ferris and was employed in Malakoff, Texas in April 2014 where he was a police officer. While riding his own personal motorcycle, Fierro was involved in a road-rage incident with Livezey, who was driving a tractor-trailer load of reclaimed barn lumber from his business in Taintor, Iowa, to a client in Houston.
The incident began when Fierro perceived Livezey to be trying to kill him with his truck. According to the DesMoines Register:
Fierro claimed in testimony that Livezey, who lived in New Sharon, Iowa, had “homicidal intent with his attacks of road rage” and came close to killing him while he was on his motorcycle.
But Fierro’s claims Livezey was trying to kill him were disputed by more than one witness who saw the gypsy cop driving erratically.
But witnesses said they saw the motorcycle weave from side-to-side and dart in front of Livezey’s truck at least 15 times, forcing it onto the shoulder. At one point, Fierro allegedly kicked the truck’s tire, witnesses told police.
Fierro then arrested Livezey for “aggravated assault” and placed the elderly man in handcuffs. That’s when the truck driver said he wasn’t feeling well. He told the other officers he was afraid Fierro was going to kill him. Fierro claimed he was faking his illness.
When backup officers arrived, Livezey said his chest was hurting “and he thought the other man was going to hurt him,” the lawsuit says. Fierro claimed Livezey was “faking” and just “putting on a show” to avoid going to jail.
The other officers who were on-duty, apparently realizing the man’s health condition was grave, took him out of handcuffs and placed him into his vehicle, where he turned purple and stopped breathing. Shortly after, he was declared dead of a cardiac arrest. The family sued the city of Malakoff, the police department, and officer Fierro.
READ MORE: Veteran Arrested For Freeing A Dog From A Hot Car, "I"ve seen enough death and destruction."
A judge removed the city and the police department from the lawsuit and allowed the suit to proceed against Fierro as the solely responsible individual for Livezey’s death. A jury found him guilty and awarded the family $6.3 million dollars as a civil penalty for causing the elderly Iowa man’s death. Fierro will be solely responsible for paying the judgment.
The Livezey family’s attorneys claimed Fierro “wrongfully and illegally handcuffed, arrested, assaulted, and detained which ultimately caused his death at the scene.” The jury agreed. Finally, after two hit-and-run incidents, and the deaths of two citizens, Fierro was forced to surrender his Texas peace officer’s license.
Finally, after two hit-and-run incidents, and the deaths of two citizens, Fierro was forced to surrender his Texas peace officer’s license. If Fierro had been held accountable for his actions when he was in Dallas, and been charged with felony hit-and-run, for example, maybe the two other individuals would still be alive today.
Fierro’s story is precisely why we at TFTP do what we do, to expose the double standard, and hold police officers to the same standard to which the rest of society is held.
A storm of controversy is brewing in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, after a police officer killed a deaf electrical engineer this past week in broad daylight outside Simsboro High School.
The man, Joshua Cloud, was a graduate of the University of Alabama’s School of Engineering. By all accounts, he was a happy, healthy, respectful, generous and kind human being. But by the official police statements, he shot at a police officer and was gunned down as a result. The only problem with the official story is that it does not match up with an eye witness accounts of the shooting.
One witness is calling Cloud’s death an act of “murder.” Quintin Crowe is a school security guard at Simsboro High. He said he was taking a smoke break when he heard a police taser being deployed. Crowe said he grabbed his camera and began recording. He observed a white male wrestling and fighting with an officer.
The man began asking the officer, shouting in fear, “What did I do?” Crowe said the officer deployed a K9 police dog on the man and said the man “busted a move” and he believed began to run in the opposite direction. It was at that instant that the shots rang out and Crowe said he saw the man fall, laying lifeless on the ground. Here’s Crowe’s first-hand account of what he saw:
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Even though Crowe never once mentioned seeing the man with a gun, the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Department issued the following statement, saying not only did Cloud have a gun, but he shot the deputy first!
“Today, August 29th, one of our Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Deputies conducted a traffic stop in Simsboro, LA. During
the course of the stop the suspect, a white male believed to be from the State of Tennessee, became non-compliant and
combative. The suspect, produced a weapon and fired striking out Deputy in his duty vest. Our Deputy returned fire on the suspect. The suspect was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene. This incident occurred in very close proximity to the Simsboro School. Out of caution, the school
was placed on temporary lock down until the scene was secured. As is standard operating procedure for this department
the Louisiana State Police will be the agency investigating this incident. Any inquiries into this incident should be directed to the
PIO for the Louisiana State Police, or the Louisiana State Police, Bureau of Investigations, Monroe, LA, field office.
Names have been withheld, pending the notification of next of kin. I would like to offer thanks to the outpouring of
appreciation and concern that this office has received from the public and surrounding jurisdictions.”
— Sheriff Mike Stone
Sheriff Stone’s statements stand in stark contrast to the eyewitness account, as well as the character witness testimony of dozens of Cloud’s friends—many of whom now believe the police are covering up a murder.
READ MORE: St. Louis Officer Charged for Being High on Cocaine While He Shot a Man in the Back
As a result, Cloud’s friends are now accusing the sheriff’s deputy, Officer Kyle Luker, of killing Cloud and creating the narrative he shot the engineer in self-defense. They are saying Cloud was likely shot for not complying with Luker’s commands, something he could not possibly have heard as he is legally deaf.
Fueling their suspicions is Crowe’s own admission that police took his phone and deleted the video of the incident. Even though Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Department detectives told him they are in possession of his cell phone recording and will use it as evidence, none of Cloud’s friends are accepting that conclusion. They are saying the police department and Sheriff Stone are engaged in an active cover-up of an officer-involved shooting that looks more like a murder.
Zach Cooley, formerly with the US Navy, commented on the Sheriff’s department page, “You obviously have no clue who he murdered.” Another friend, Chris Schneider, responded with what one could describe as seething anger. He wrote:
“Where’s the video evidence! The victim was a solid human being with respect, dignity, and poise. A total law abiding American citizen!”
He described the incident as possibly a mistake:
“Cops mess up, they’re people too, and like people they cover up things when they mess up unfortunately.”
Schneider pointed out how not all police can be trusted as TFTP has reported. In Baltimore, MD, several officers were implicated in planting evidence on a suspect. He drew the appropriate analogy:
“I guess everyone supporting this cop on here doesn’t see the hard evidence on the news around the US of cops planting drugs and weapons on innocent people and taking them to jail for a crime they never committed. OR a cop shooting an innocent man to death in front of his own daughter two feet away from him in a car?”
Cloud’s friend then openly accused the police department of lying and covering up the truth:
“There is a real story that isn’t being shared with the public, shame on you. I hope true honest and fair justice will be served here. You have hundreds of people around the country weighing [sic] in on this case that are close with this victim.”
Schneider then called on the police department and Sheriff Stone to reveal the truth and stop trying to protect their officer:
“hope you do the right thing for the right reason. Would be a shame to see a wonderful human being’s life get swept under the floor because a cop had no integrity and neither did a whole police force in a Louisiana community. YOU ARE BEING WATCHED AND ACCOUNTED FOR!!! And if you feel threatened by that then you’re in the wrong! Because at the end of the day when you take off that uniform you are just like me and everyone else in your communities! You are nothing special!”
Drew Glines, another of Cloud’s friends, is questioning the official police narrative as well. He wrote:
“Joshua Cloud was legally deaf….. and was one of the kindest, most sincere, genuine, selfless individuals I have had the opportunity to encounter. I am privileged to call him my friend. He would never have endangered someone’s life, police or otherwise, if he did not feel his life was in imminent danger. I eagerly await video and audio evidence of this encounter… bc this is not as cut and dry as, ‘bad guy shot cop, cop fired back’ …
When should we expect that more details will be released?”
The details the police should release immediately are the gun with its serial number, make and model, and more importantly, the video that Crowe took and police have deleted.
READ MORE: Man Arrested for Filming Cops, Apparently They "Felt Threatened" by the Presence of a Cell Phone
Any dash cam or body camera footage should also be released as well as security camera footage of the incident recorded from Simsboro High School where police reportedly took Crowe to confiscate his cell phone footage. Such confusion and unanswered questions exist surrounding the officer-involved shooting that releasing those details in a timely manner may dispel all doubt about whether or not Cloud was murdered, as Crowe alleges, or was killed in self-defense as Sheriff Stone contends.
Schneider is demanding “hard evidence” be presented and promises he is not going to sit idly by as police try to push their own narrative of last week’s deadly encounter with police. “I already messaged them, emailed them, and writing the state later today. There needs to be noise made over this. I’ll be damned if I let a guilty man still continue to serve that community while my friend is dead,” he emphatically wrote.
Cassidy McCool is Cloud’s girlfriend. She, too, vouched for his character as a reply to Sheriff Stone’s contention that her boyfriend was shot and killed because he opened fire on deputies. She called it murder what happened to her boyfriend. She wrote:
“My boyfriend, Joshua Cloud, was the single most level-headed and calm-mannered man I have ever known. I have NEVER even seen him get upset or angry. Never has he ever been violent, he has always been a lover not a fighter. He was just on the way home from a long summer away from home. He was LEGALLY DEAF & does not wear hearing aids! He probably did not understand what the officer was saying and HE MURDERED MY SOULMATE. I need to know what this officer did to my boyfriend! I need video evidence! I need to know what you did to Josh! Josh was the most rational and ingenious man I have ever known, and he just attained his degree in electrical engineering! WHAT DID THAT COP DO TO MY BOYFRIEND?!?!? WHY DID YOU MURDER MY BOYFRIEND?!?”
Joshua Cloud was from Knoxville, TN. He was buried on Sunday. His death marks the 806th death by cop in 2017.
Marksville, LA — A high-profile former police officer who has been charged with the murder of an innocent child, is currently out on a $1 million bail and is awaiting trial, was allowed to leave the continental U.S. to enjoy a vacation at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Norris Greenhouse Jr. is the second of two officers charged in the murder of 6-yr-old Jeremy Mardis. The first officer, Derrick Stafford, was found guilty in March of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter in Mardis’ November 2015 murder.
As TFTP’s Claire Bernish previously reported, the shots were intended for Mardis’ father, whose ongoing dispute with Greenhouse, culminated in the two officers firing multiple rounds into the SUV driven by Christopher Few (Mardis’ father).
Captured on police dash and body cameras, the grisly incident stunned the nation (SHOWING Derrick) Stafford and a second officer, Norris Greenhouse, shooting irresponsibly into the vehicle driven by Christopher Few following a brief pursuit — even though the father raised his arms in compliance with the cops’ orders.
In the video, the two officers appeared to immediately know they had crossed the line when approaching the vehicle they believed was only occupied by Few, they noticed Mardis’ dead body in the back seat. There were two other officers on the scene who did not fire their weapons and were therefore not charged.
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Stranger still, Greenhouse was not even an Avoyelles Parish police officer at the time of the killing. He reportedly had been fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old, a fact which will surely be presented as evidence in court.
READ MORE: BREAKING: Cop Who Killed Unarmed Father With Hands Up, On Video, Gets Job Back
Concerns have now been raised by Avoyelles Today the officer may attempt to flee justice. After all, it would be much easier for him to do so while in the Caribbean than if he were contained to the continental U.S.
According to the report, the news Greenhouse was in St. Thomas may have come as a surprise to prosecutors as well.
Prosecutors were apparently unaware of Greenhouse’s out-of-country trip. “The Louisiana Department of Justice had no knowledge that the defendant would be traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Louisiana Department of Justice Press Secretary Ruth Wisher issued a statement Wednesday.
Defense attorney George Higgins would not comment on his client’s trip.
Greenhouse has every reason to fear he will be the next individual convicted of the cold-hearted murder of little Jeremy Mardis. His partner’s trial ended in March with a guilty verdict and a lengthy prison sentence of 40 years handed down.
Many believe Greenhouse may be getting financial help from others evidenced by the fact the former officer was able to make the one million dollar bail. Coupled with the fact his father is the assistant DA, his out of country trip is now leading some to openly question whether he also has the resources to make a run for it.
Even though he presumably is wearing an ankle monitor, and is very likely under the watchful eye of the federal government as well as bounty hunters, he may be able to escape, leaving many to incredulously question why someone who may be guilty of murder has been allowed to leave the confines of the homeland.
READ MORE: In the Land of the Free, A Cop Can Kill 2 Girls, Face No Charges, then Be Elected to Office
Quite possibly more disturbing than the federal government permitting Greenhouse to go on vacation in the Caribbean is the fact that he’s also an alleged pedophile. As TFTP previously reported:
In a recent court filing, Greenhouse was accused by prosecutors of having a habit of abusing the authority implicit in his badge to “satisfy his sexual desires.” According to the Associated Press, “The Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office fired Norris Greenhouse Jr. for ‘abandoning his job’ after the mother of a 14-year-old girl complained in 2012 that she found him lying on a sofa with her daughter while he was dressed in his sheriff’s office uniform, prosecutors said in Friday’s filing.”
He was also accused of attempting to get a 16-year-old girl to sext him by sending him nude photos of her breasts. With respect to Jeremy Mardis, Greenhouse was reportedly obsessed with Few’s girlfriend, Megan Dixon.
When Few discovered Greenhouse had made more than a few unwanted sexual advances toward Dixon, Few reportedly told Greenhouse to stay away as any man would do. Greenhouse may have taken the threat so literally that he attempted to carry out his assassination on Few in an effort to clear the way for him and Dixon to have a relationship.
The sick and twisted way Greenhouse not only supposedly led his life, but hid behind his badge in order to do it, ended in a hail of bullets which left Mardis dead, Few wounded, and two former officers charged in connection with the child’s death. How this guy is even allowed to bail out is a mystery to many. Now there’s confirmation the out of control former cop has been allowed to enjoy a vacation in the Caribbean. You can’t make this up.
READ MORE: What are they Hiding? Judge Refuses to Release Eric Garner Grand Jury Records
Greenhouse has been charged with 2nd-degree murder and 2nd degree attempted murder in the death of Jeremy Mardis and the attempted murder of Christopher Few. His trial is scheduled for October 2nd. We will continue to report on this story as it unfolds.
Tulsa, OK — Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby will not spend a day in prison for killing 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. In fact, according to officials on Friday, Shelby will be allowed to return to her job on the police force.
Tulsa police Chief Chuck Jordan said in an email Friday Shelby will once again be a police officer with his department but would not be allowed to patrol Tulsa’s streets.
Shelby’s trial concluded this week when she was found “not guilty” of manslaughter Wednesday, by a jury of her peers. The jurors also wanted to go on record as saying she is not without blame.
Shannon McMurray, Shelby’s lawyer didn’t appear convinced her client would return to the force, even expressing doubt it would be a good idea. “She’s going to self-guess herself and get herself killed or somebody else,” McMurray said, implying she may still be a danger to society. She’s been on unpaid administrative leave since September when she was charged with manslaughter.
Crutcher’s family isn’t waiting around for their son and father’s killer to make up her mind whether or not to return to the police department. According to the Associated Press (AP) they’re petitioning the city to prevent such a reinstatement of her employment.
Crutcher’s death was captured on video from a police helicopter which was flying overhead. Shelby’s husband, Dave Shelby, was in the chopper and watched as his wife made the decision to shoot Crutcher, who died from his injuries.
Shelby even took her case to the court of public opinion, granting an interview with 60 Minutes where she discussed the shooting in detail.
READ MORE: After Not Being Charged for Stalking on Duty - Ex-Cop Murders Multiple Women, Kept Bodies in Fridge
In her interview with 60 Minutes she said Crutcher wasn’t obeying her commands and was acting “Zombie-lik.e. She said she began to fear when he ignored her orders. “I’m thinking he’s calculating how he can get to his vehicle to get whatever weapon it is that he’s going to get because he didn’t find it in his pocket,” she said.
She described the moment she fired. “It’s like slow motion of me bringing my gun up, my finger coming in and then letting off. And he stopped and then he just slowly fell to the ground.”
She then blamed her shooting Crutcher — on Crutcher.
In court, the AP described her defense team’s strategy:
Shelby said she fired her weapon out of fear because Crutcher ignored her commands to lie down and appeared to reach inside his SUV for what she thought was a gun. But prosecutors said she overreacted, arguing that Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasn’t combative, part of which was confirmed by police video that showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his hands above his head.
The father’s killing drew outrage from the community and the nation as a whole. As The Free Thought Project has reported, there is an apparent epidemic of police-involved shootings which has led, by some estimates, to the deaths of over 1,000 people per year. The number may, in fact, be higher, as no government entity currently tracks Deaths by Cop.
Tulsa’s mayor G.T. Bynum addressed reporters following the “not guilty” verdict. “We have a long way to go, as a city, when one part of our city is synonymous with an entire race. We have a long way to go, as a city, when people keep expecting lawlessness from African Americans in response to an incident or a verdict.”
READ MORE: Wife Calls 911 for Medical Help, Cops Come Instead, Beat Unarmed Husband to Death
Addressing the racial disparity he observes in his city, Bynum said, “I would remind Tulsans that our history shows us African Americans in Tulsa have not been the instigators of lawlessness, and riots. They have been the victims of them. So I would ask that we not keep assuming the worst from a part of our community that has been exposed to the worst in this city’s history.”
Bynum says his time spent with the Crutcher family shows him they’re “really good people.” Speaking of the loss of their loved one he said, “His parents have had to bury a son. His kids will have to grow up without a dad who loves them. His sister, all of her best memories of her brother will be memories. There will be no more new ones.”
On Friday, an unusual action was taken on behalf of the jury. The twelve members (3 of whom were Black) issued a post-trial statement. According to the AP, they presented a “post-trial court filing on Friday [indicating] that Shelby could have used a less-lethal method to subdue Crutcher and could have saved his life. The foreman of the jury also says in a three-page memo that jurors weren’t comfortable with the idea that Shelby was ‘blameless’ in Crutcher’s death.”
McMurray acknowledged her client could have chosen a less-than-lethal method of subduing Crutcher but added her client had to make a “split-second” decision.
Just like that — cops can kill unarmed, non-violent, and arguably innocent fathers on video, and not only be acquitted — but still be cops.
READ MORE: Woman Serves Stalker Cop with a Restraining Order, So He Killed Her and Shot Her Daughter
