WATCH: Cop Pummels Surrendering Man As Fellow Cops Hold Him Lying Face Down—Not Guilty

A Massachusetts State Police trooper was found not guilty Thursday of simple assault after police violently arrested a non-violent man who’d surrendered after a chase and was lying face down on the ground.

As news crews filmed from helicopters hovering above, Richard Simone exited his truck, kneeled, and lay prone on his stomach on the asphalt — but several officers rushed the man and initiated a savage attack in what appeared to be retaliation for having led them on an hour-long pursuit through the two states.

After the violent beating went viral, New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster announced that Joseph Flynn of the Massachusetts State Police and Andrew Monaco of the New Hampshire State Police were charged with several counts of simple assault for excessive use of force.

Flynn was charged with two counts of simple assault, while Monaco received three simple assault charges. But, as Foster’s office advised at the time, the Washington Post paraphrased, “because the two troopers were on-duty law enforcement officers during the incident, their charges could see an enhanced penalty.”

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However, no enhanced penalty ever came, and in fact, it seems there will be no penalty for Flynn.

WMUR 9 reports a jury in Hillsborough County Superior Court found Flynn, 32, of Tewksbury, not guilty on two counts of simple assault by an on-duty officer.

Despite video evidence to the contrary, Flynn claimed he threw punches at Simone when the chase ended only as submission blows. And, somehow, the jury bought it.

Monaco, however, was not so lucky. He pleaded guilty to his charges and was sentenced to a year in jail with the sentence suspended with conditions. He was ordered to never pursue a job in law enforcement again.

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Flynn, however, will be able to get right back to the job after enjoying his 14 months long paid vacation at the expense of Hillsborough taxpayers.

As TFTP reported last year, on May 11, police in Holden, Massachusetts, attempted to stop Simone’s pickup truck when they discovered an advisory from another department that the man had outstanding warrants for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, larceny, and failure to stop for law enforcement, according to the State Police.

When Simone failed to pull over, Holden Police were joined in their pursuit by Massachusetts state troopers. As Simone crossed into Hudson in neighboring New Hampshire, that state’s police and local forces also joined the pursuit. As The Free Thought Project previously described:

“Simone weaved through traffic — at one point hitting a utility pole — as law enforcement officers from both states repeatedly tried to pull him over without success. At some point during the pursuit, Simone’s gray pickup lost two of its tires; but as sparks flew, he continued driving.”

Around an hour after Massachusetts officers initiated the chase, Simone stopped his vehicle in Nashua, New Hampshire, lowering himself face first onto the asphalt with his arms extended in surrender. But more than half a dozen police from the various departments — apparently enraged over the chase that occasionally reached speeds of 90 mph — descended on the now-prone man, beating him relentlessly as neighbors and children watched in horror.

“He was surrendering, you know, he gave up — but I was like, ‘Oh my god, they’re really attacking him,’” Simone’s stunned sister told 7 News at the time, in a report which has since been removed. “It was very shocking, to say the least. Disturbing to see that and to see when someone willingly gets out of the vehicle, goes to their knees, flat out on their stomach, their hands out — very shocking.”

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Below is an example of what a cop can do on video and still get off scot-free.

*** NOT GUILTY *** Bunkerville Retrial

34 OF 40 CHARGES WERE NOT GUILTY. THE REMAINING 6 CHARGES WERE DEADLOCKED BY THE JURY.

by Shari Dovale

Celebrations are dominant throughout the Patriot community tonight. The four men on trial for the second time in Las Vegas, Nevada are being released.

Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelein heard the jury return 34 Not Guilty verdicts today, out of 40 charges.

Each Defendant was charged with 10 separate charges, with 3 possibilities of additional enhancements. They were facing possibilities of spending the rest of their lives in prison.

For the past several weeks, the prosecution painted as damaging a picture as they could, aided by Judge Gloria Navarro. She shut down these men from putting on any kind of a defense.

They were not allowed to call witnesses on their own behalf. They were not allowed to talk about why they went to Nevada. They were not allowed to mention the bad acts from the BLM or FBI agents.

The only witness allowed to testify was a single defendant, Scott Drexler. He was sharply curtailed by Judge Navarro in what he was allowed to say.

Yet, the jury was paying attention. They saw the favoritism from the judge. They saw the defense get frustrated. They even had the judge tell them not to ask certain questions. Navarro specifically told the jurors they did not need to know why the FBI was involved in this protest. She told them not to ask about the Bill of Rights.

The jury came back on Monday with complaints of biased jurors. Yet, the judge made no changes in the jury. They indicated today that they were deadlocked on certain charges. Judge Navarro was open to giving them an “Allen Charge”, or sending them back to try harder to reach an agreement.

The jury was told they could come back with partial verdicts and they jumped on that option.

The most serious charges were Count 1: Conspiracy against the USA. The jury found each defendant Not Guilty, and Count 2: Conspiracy to Impede/Injure, also a Not Guilty across the board.

Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelein had Not Guilty verdicts on all 10 charges. Scott Drexler was found Not Guilty on 8 of 10 charges. The 2 charges that were deadlocked were Count 5: Assault on a Federal Officer and Count 6: Use and Carry of a Firearm (with Count 5)

Eric Parker was found Not Guilty on 6 of 10 charges. The deadlocked charges for Parker were Counts 5 & 6, as with Drexler, Count 8: Threatening a Federal officer and Count 9: Use and Carry of a Firearm (with Count 8).

Stewart and Lovelein are expected to be released this evening. Parker and Drexler are anticipating being sent to a halfway house in preparation for release. They will be back in court tomorrow morning for a detention release hearing with Judge Navarro.

On April 12, 2014, the Bundy family and their supporters fly the American flag as their cattle is released by the Bureau of Land Management back onto public land outside of Bunkerville, Nev. (photo: AP)

Redoubt News

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BREAKING: Cop Who Killed Unarmed Father With Hands Up, On Video, Gets Job Back

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.

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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.”

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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.

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