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A suspect in the shooting deaths of two officers in California had symbols linked to the extremist Boogaloo movement, a loosely knit group of heavily armed, anti-government extremists, US Attorney David Anderson said.
Steven Carrillo, 32, faces a federal murder charge in the May 29 drive-by shooting of David Patrick Underwood, a federal protective services officer, in Oakland, Anderson said. At the same time, a protest against police brutality was taking place nearby.
Carrillo, an active-duty staff sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base at the time of the shooting, is also the suspect in the June 6 death of a Santa Cruz sheriff’s deputy, Sheriff Jim Hart said last week.
“The Boogaloo term is used by extremists to reference a violent uprising, or impending civil war in the United States,” Anderson said.
“Pat Underwood was murdered because he wore a uniform,” Anderson said.
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After meeting privately with US President Donald Trump, Wanda Cooper, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, told CNN’s Don Lemon that Trump’s executive order doesn’t go far enough.
Cooper added that she “didn’t have high expectations” going into the meeting but wanted to learn more about the executive order.
Trump signed the executive order on Tuesday, enacting some reforms to train police and reduce the use of excessive force
Steven Gaynor, the President of Cobb County Fraternal Order of Police, said that the police shooting of Rayshard Brooks was justified under Georgia law.
Brooks, 27, was killed by an Atlanta police officer outside a Wendy’s restaurant after failing a sobriety test, fighting with two officers, taking a Taser from one and running away.
Officer Garrett Rolfe was fired after footage showed him shooting at Brooks multiple times from the back as Brooks fled. The second officer, Devin Brosnan, is on administrative duty.
Gaynor said that a Taser is not a deadly weapon when used by a trained individual, because a “trained individual knows where to aim it,” but “an untrained individual does not and then it becomes a deadly weapon at that point.”
Of the officer’s decision to shoot and not just let Brooks run away, Gaynor said, “now we know what the criminal history is, but we didn’t know at the time.”
“Could he carjack somebody? Could he be scared so much that he’s going to kidnap somebody in another car? Is he going to hurt a civilian? There’s a lot of things that come into play that you have to play out and go ‘I am responsible for this person I was going to arrest’ and he now has a weapon that I provided him because he took it from me,” he said.
Gaynor said that Brooks’ actions when he was placed under arrest “causes what occurs in his death, not the previous action where they are all compliant.”
“They go to put the handcuffs on him – a lawful arrest with detention – and he chooses to fight. That causes all of these things to then spiral. So you’ve got to take those into account,” Gaynor said.
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Embattled Las Vegas Mayor Pro Tem Michele Fiore announced Tuesday she was stepping down – a decision taken after she came under fire for allegedly making “racially charged” comments during the Clark County Republican convention earlier this month.
The Clark County Republican Party had said in a statement that, “Ms. Fiore’s remarks were clearly inappropriate and ran counter to the beliefs of the Clark County Republican Party.”
The statement described her remarks as “irresponsible, insensitive and inaccurate” and called on her “to issue an apology to those in attendance as well as to the community at large.”
Fiore told reporters at a news conference she wanted “to be clear on stating that there is no room for racial division, social justice is a human right, for all.”
Fiore went on to say her “time would be better spent on a course of action that will help repair that many hurting communities who have been affected by this deep divide.”
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman came to Fiore’s defense during the news conference, saying she believes the former mayor pro tem should not be “considered or have been considered a racist or a bigot. She has just been loyal and giving to every community all the time, and I believe she has the best of intentions. And always, the biggest heart.”
Fiore’s announcement comes as the city has been the scene of protests over George Floyd’s death and to condemn systemic racism and police brutality.
New concrete street barriers that allow some vehicle access into Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest are being installed in the six-block occupied zone, a sign of cooperation between protest organizers and city leaders after a week of protests.
The new barriers, which are made of wood and concrete and can be painted, will replace the makeshift barricades put in place by protesters that have blocked street access, the city said.
On Tuesday, crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation were seen installing the new barriers in the protest zone.
A news release from Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office says the barriers will allow for traffic to resume throughout the Capitol Hill neighborhood as well as “ease access for residents of apartment building(s) in the surrounding areas, and help local businesses manage deliveries and logistics.”
The changes happened after a Sunday meeting held with protest organizers. Work on the changes began early Tuesday morning.
Police, meanwhile have still not returned to Seattle’s East Precinct station, which is located inside the occupied zone. On Monday, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said officers would only be responding to calls in the zone for life-threatening emergencies, as the occupation shows no signs of waning.
A lawyer for the family of Rayshard Brooks said on Tuesday he’s been flooded with calls from people in the community, who have had negative interaction with former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe.
Rolfe was fired after footage showed him shooting at Brooks multiple times from the back as Brooks fled.
Stewart added that he will be following up on all the complaints and looking into why nearly 12 of them were dismissed.
On Monday, Atlanta police released the disciplinary records for the two officers involved in the fatal shooting.
Rolfe’s record shows a use of force complaint from September 19, 2016, which resulted in a written reprimand the following year. It also included several citizen complaints, all with notes that no action was taken.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Jr. is weighing charges for both officers. He expects to make a decision as soon as Wednesday.
Senator Tim Scott and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will introduce the Republican police reform bill Wednesday morning in a 9:30 a.m. ET news conference.
They, along with Senators Shelley Moore Capito, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, James Lankford and Ben Sasse will detail the Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere (JUSTICE) Act.
They say the JUSTICE Act “provides long-term solutions focused on police reform, accountability and transparency,” according to a news release from Scott’s office.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller condemned the violence that led to a shooting at yesterday’s demonstration and announced at a news conference today that the city will be removing the statue that sparked the protest.
“The shooting last night in Old Town at the Oñate sculpture was a horrific and unacceptable act of violence,” Keller said today at a news conference provided to CNN by affiliate KOAT.
The protest was over a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate.
Both the mayor and city’s police chief also reiterated that the violence was the result of a small minority of “agitators.”
“The continued involvement of agitators, whether the single individual or group of vigilantes is resulting in this violence,” Police Chief Mike Geier said today.
“Our officers gathered more than 20 guns from just four individuals,” Geier explained.
Keller also echoed the reports from protesters that the man arrested for shooting and seriously injuring a protester was harassing the crowd.
Steven Ray Baca, 31, was arrested in connection with the shooting, according to Albuquerque police. Baca is accused of aggravated battery.
“It appears that the perpetrator was agitating at the protest well before the shooting took place,” Keller said.
The investigation into the shooting has been handed off to the state police “to make sure that this is an independent investigation,” Keller said.
A couple of hundred people rallied at the Christopher Columbus statue in South Philadelphia on Tuesday, calling for the city to reinstate Philadelphia Police Department Captain Lou Campione, according to CNN affiliate KYW.
The department removed Campione from his command following “a volatile and chaotic situation” at the statue over the weekend.
A small group of activists gathered Tuesday on the other side of the fence surrounding the statue, calling for further action on the captain, KYW reported.
Sen. Kamala Harris said “we don’t need empty promises” after President Trump signed a police reform executive order, addressing a growing national outcry over police brutality.
The senator tweeted Tuesday evening that Trump’s policing executive action was “meaningless.”
“The package of bills that I put together with Sen. Cory Booker and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus put together, the Justice in Policing Act would require real accountability,” Harris said.
The bill will include: “Things like an independent investigation of police departments. It would require that there would be pattern and practices investigations by the United States Department of Justice, looking at patterns and practices of discrimination in law enforcement agencies. It would require that we have a national standard for the use of excessive force by police officers,” she said.
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Asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett why Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, didn’t meet with President Trump today, Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the family, said they didn’t “want to talk politics.”
In the interview, Floyd told Burnett the family wants to see Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s bill, H.R. 7120, supported on Capitol Hill.
The bill would bring reform and oversight to policing, including a ban on chokeholds, a registry of police officer conduct complaints and ending police protections that make it hard for people to sue them for excessive force.
“All I was saying was that Philonise Floyd just got from testifying before the United States Congress where he made a passionate plea that this is our opportunity to get meaningful systematic reform to stop this police brutality, these police killings, unjustifiable killings of black people in America,” Crump said.
He continued: “And he’s testifying before the United Nations tomorrow. And he wholeheartedly supports the legislation that has been put forth by the Congressional Black Caucus because they have been dealing with this issue for decades, and they know what meaningful legislation needs to be passed that they can attach George Floyd’s name to. And they don’t want to do anything unless it’s meaningful.”
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Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said her private meeting with President Trump and other victims’ families today was “very, very emotional.”
Talking to reporters on Capitol Hill this afternoon, she described Trump as “very compassionate.”
“He did assure each family member that we would and should expect change,” she continued.
Cooper-Jones also said Trump “showed major concerns for all families, not just one family.”
On Trump’s executive order on policing, she said, “I don’t think that’s enough, but I do think that is a start.”
More on this: At the signing of a new policing executive order, Trump said he held a meeting earlier today with several families of victims of police shootings and racially-motivated violence.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, a union representing nearly 10,000 L.A. sworn personnel, said the move to replace some LAPD officers with non-law enforcement agencies would help improve outcomes between police and the communities they serve.
In a statement to CNN Tuesday, the union said the motion, introduced by Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson Jr., would help to ensure more safe and appropriate outcomes in non-violent situations.
Saggau said LAPD could do better to meet their mandated response times for emergency calls if other professionals responded to matters like mental health crisis situations, homelessness, loud music complaints and neighborhood disputes.
“We only go where policymakers say to go, and they always say ‘let’s send the police to these situations,’” Saggau said. “For years, we’ve asked why are you first dealing with the systemic issues that contribute to homelessness and mental health on the front end and why aren’t you sending folks that are trained to manage these types of situations that aren’t violent?”
This comes just days after police unions in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose unveiled a collective agenda calling for national police reform and pledging to root out racist officers.
“Unfortunately, there is racism in our communities and that means across our country there are some racist police officers,” the unions said in a joint statement. “Police unions must root out racism wherever it rears its ugly head and root out any racist individual from our profession.”
The family of Robert Fuller, the 24-year-old black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, California, on June 10, is seeking an independent investigation and autopsy to determine the cause of his death, the family’s attorneys said in a statement on Tuesday.
“To rush to the conclusion that this was a suicide and not a homicide is extremely disturbing,” Hicks added. “For African-Americans in America, hanging from a tree is a lynching. Why was this cavalierly dismissed as a suicide and not investigated as a murder?”
Fuller’s family is asking for the independent autopsy to be paid for by the city, according to the statement.
“We want complete transparency. To that end, the family should choose the pathologist to conduct the independent autopsy,” Hicks said.
The city declined to comment on details at this time.
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The Philadelphia police captain has been removed from command following “a volatile and chaotic situation” at the Christopher Columbus statue in South Philadelphia over the weekend, according to a statement from the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police.
The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed that Capt. Lou Campione’s change of command was one of several changes made Monday, according to Staff Inspector Sekou Kinebrew.
On Monday, Philadelphia police also confirmed an active investigation by their internal affairs division in reference to the incident.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced plans on Monday to initiate a public process to consider the future of the Christopher Columbus statue located in Marconi Plaza. Barriers have been installed around the statue on Tuesday in order to preserve it while the process is followed.
In his statement on Monday, Kenney said he hopes “that by initiating this process, the current tensions in Marconi Plaza can end. I urge all South Philadelphians attempting to protect the statue to stand down and have your voices heard through the public process.”
CNN has attempted to reach Campione for comment.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate a noose found in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on Monday.
“New York is no place for hate, and the progress we’ve made as a society will not be undone by the work of a few cowards,” Cuomo said. “We will continue to stand united and condemn hateful acts that target and threaten people because of their race, religion or sexual orientation.”
The noose, which was hung on a bell tower structure inside the park in the area of Mount Morris Park and East 122nd Street, was removed and collected as evidence, according to the New York City Police Department.
The New York City Parks Department filed a complaint report for aggravated harassment after they were alerted to the noose’s presence on Monday.
“We are dismayed by this incident. NYPD was immediately notified, and we removed the rope from the tree,” NYC Parks spokesperson Crystal Howard said.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday that the city’s chief of police, William C. Smith, resigned after protests following the death of George Floyd.
“As of this morning, I requested Chief Smith’s resignation and he has tendered it,” Stoney said at a news conference.
Major Jody Blackwell has been appointed as the interim police chief.
“He will lead our healing and trust building within our community,” the mayor said.
Stoney stressed that Richmond has a “good” police department, but said “we can be better.”
Michelle Kenney, the mother of Antwon Rose II, issued a statement today, after President Trump mentioned her son, who was shot and killed by an East Pittsburgh Police officer, in a speech about police reform.
Kenney said, “Contrary to reports, I did not meet with the President today at the White House.”
She continued: “I came to Washington with one sole intention – to meet and speak with the senators that are devoted to establishing legislation that will encourage better police practices. While my family and I appreciate that the President referenced Antwon’s name in his speech, we wanted to clarify that we never met with the President under any circumstances and do not plan to.”
What is this about: At the signing of a new policing executive order, Trump said he held a meeting earlier today with several families of black Americans who have been killed by police — including Rose’s family.
Trump said relatives of Rose, Jemel Roberson, Atatiana Jefferson, Michael Dean, Darius Tarver and Cameron Lamb and Everett Palmer were all in attendance.
Relatives of Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot in a neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia, were also at the White House, Trump said.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott said his police reform proposal does not include an outright ban on chokeholds but argued “we get very, very close to that place” by blocking federal grant funds to departments that don’t ban chokeholds themselves.
“It eliminates the possibility of getting grants from those departments that have not banned chokeholds,” he said, describing it as “similar” to both the House Democratic plan and President Trump’s executive order. “We believe that gets you to the same outcome.”
Scott, the chief author of the GOP Senate police reform bill that could be released this week, also said his bill’s requirement that states maintain a system for sharing records of law enforcement officers will work effectively with Trump’s executive order announced Tuesday that includes a national database of officers with a history of excessive force.
“Having the opportunity to pay attention to the president’s executive order for the past several days, realizing that he was bringing the national database of officers who have poor conduct, our ability to preserve the records, makes it easier for that seamless transition to happen, and so I think we are in a better place because we worked on legislation that allows those records to flow up,” Scott said.
Scott was asked if he has any Democratic support for his bill, something that would be needed for it to get 60 votes to advance in the Senate.
“My understanding is that the Democrats have been told they are not allowed to get on this bill,” he replied, suggesting the bill might never be fully debated or amended on the Senate floor.
