AZ - Unarmed man shot dead by cop for non-compliance

[Anti Federalist]

Gainfully employed white man with a family, so do not expect to hear anything more about this either.


Granbury wife wants answers after husband shot by Arizona police

January 22, 2016

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local...lice/79159608/

Laney Sweet is still talking about her husband in the present tense.

“He’s really funny, he’s really laid back,” she says. “He’s always the person to try and diffuse a situation, keep the peace.”

She says it’s nearly impossible to wrap her head around the notion that 26-year-old Daniel Shaver of Granbury, the father of her girls, is gone.

He was shot and killed by a police officer Monday night at a La Quinta Inn in Mesa, Arizona, where he was staying for work.

“That’s what I keep saying,” Sweet says. “This is not my life, this is not my life. I’m 24. My husband’s gone. I’ve got two kids.”

Mesa police say Monday night, they were called to the hotel after people in the pool reported seeing a man on the fifth floor, pointing a rifle out of the window.

“They’re just really long guns,” Sweet says, telling us Shaver had pellet rifles with him for his pest control job.

Police say when they went to Shaver’s hotel room to investigate, he and another person came out, but then Shaver kept concealing his hands behind him, despite orders not to. Police say one of the officers felt threatened and shot Shaver. The officer had been with the department for two-and-a-half years, and is currently reassigned during the investigation.

Police say Shaver turned out to be unarmed.

The pellet guns were found in the room.

“I just feel like there's no reason possibly that could be justified for shooting him multiple times, and him dying in a hallway unarmed,” Sweet says.

There is video of the incident, police say, but it won’t be released yet.

Sweet wants to know what it shows, why they didn’t use a Taser on him first, and what witnesses saw.

“I want answers to all of that,” she says. And those answers right now are a thousand miles away.

Sweet has created a memorial page on Facebook and a GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses -- and for an attorney to investigate the circumstances surrounding her husband's death.

The Mesa Police Department said Friday that its sympathy goes out to Shaver's family.

"These types of situations are difficult for police officers. The officer involved in this incident has been with the Mesa Police Department for two and a half years and is currently administratively reassigned per department protocol," the department said. "The investigation is currently on going and all evidence and statements are being completed to be presented to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) for an independent review. A key piece of evidence of this case is the on-body camera video which captured the incident. The video will not be immediately released publicly until the investigation is completed and reviewed by MCAO."

(Doesn't sound like sympathy to me. Sounds like, "$#@! Mundane should have complied, then we would not have to put our brave officer through the torture of a mock investigation." - AF)

[sparebulb]

Widow doesn't get it.

If she doesn't want her old man blown away for no reason, she should have married one of the good guys.

In B4 the Texican.

[Mani]

Body cam will take 3 years to come out, but if it's too damning it will have turned out to be "malfunctioned...."

[heavenlyboy34]

Phoenix PD was featured on the show "COPS" a few times. Fans of that show were/are psycho(in a bad way). This kind of $#@! is why. Sheriff Joe is a menace to society.

[angelatc]

"These types of situations are difficult for police officers.

$#@! you for being dead .

[sparebulb]

$#@! you for being dead .

I can't give you enough +rep lately.

[SeanTX]

Update: Officer charged with second degree murder.

I think I can provide the next update in advance : officer found not guilty, or a hung jury. To be followed up with hundreds of thousands in back pay being awarded, re-hired or hired by a different dept. etc.

It seems more and more cops are being charged, but VERY few convicted ...

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/mesa-...y-man/68241689

GRANBURY — A Mesa, Ariz. officer who fatally shot a Granbury man has been charged with second degree murder, according to a statement released by Maricopa County officials late Friday.

Officer Philip Mitchell Brailsford has been ordered to appear in court at 9 a.m. on March 15.

[Anti Federalist]

Update: Officer charged with second degree murder.

I think I can provide the next update in advance : officer found not guilty, or a hung jury. To be followed up with hundreds of thousands in back pay being awarded, re-hired or hired by a different dept. etc.

It seems more and more cops are being charged, but VERY few convicted ...

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/mesa-...y-man/68241689

Color me shocked...

[RJ Liberty]

Honestly, I'm surprised the cop was charged with any crime. I doubt he'll be convicted of anything, but at least a cop was charged in this case. So sad.

[mrsat_98]

So the lawyers could bill hours to our nickel.

[Occam's Banana]

Sweet wants to know what it shows, why they didn’t use a Taser on him first, and what witnesses saw.

*heavy sigh*

[TheTexan]

Sweet wants to know what it shows, why they didn’t use a Taser on him first

Sweety, they already answered that:

Police say one of the officers felt threatened

[TheTexan]

but then Shaver kept concealing his hands behind him, despite orders not to

What is wrong with this guy, did he not go to public school? This is Compliance 101. Basic $#@!.

At least the Officer is OK. Could have been a dangerous situation.

[TheTexan]

It's a good thing the Officers put an end to this situation before it could have theoretically become dangerous.

Safety first, ya know.

[Suzanimal]

"Please Don't Shoot Me," Man Begged Before Cop Shot and Killed Him

Moments before a Mesa, Arizona, police officer killed Daniel Shaver with five shots from an AR-15, Shaver was on all fours, pleading with officers not to shoot him, according to a newly released police report from the incident.

Shaver, a twenty-six-year-old from Texas, was killed on January 18. Philip Brailsford, the two-year Mesa Police Department officer who allegedly killed him, was fired from the department and charged with second-degree murder.

Shaver was staying at a Mesa La Quinta Inn on a work-related trip when he was killed, according to a local ABC affiliate. The police report (viewable in full here) alleges that officers received a call about a man pointing a rifle out Shaver’s fifth-floor hotel window.

According to the police report, the officers who responded asked Shaver and a woman he was with to exit the room. Shaver exited, then raised his hands and dropped to his knees. An officer told him to lay on the ground, and he did. He was “obviously compliant and offered no resistance at that point,” the report reads. Then, Shaver was ordered to put his hands behind his head, cross his legs, and not move. If he moved, the officer told him, he would be considered a threat, and “may not survive it.”

The officers then ordered the woman Shaver was with to crawl towards them, and ordered Shaver back to a kneeling position. “If you do that again, we’re shooting you. Do you understand?” an officer asked him, apparently referencing Shaver’s failure to immediately raise his hands as he kneeled. “No, please don’t shoot me,” Shaver replied. At around this point, according to the report, he began sobbing.

Officers ordered Shaver to crawl toward them, and he complied, “audibly sobbing” as he did so. As he crawled, he briefly moved his hand toward his waist and back toward his body, and Officer Brailsford began shooting.

“The movement of SHAVER’s right arm in the recording was a very similar motion to someone drawing a pistol from their waist band,” the report reads. However, it continues, “SHAVER’s underwear were clearly visible and it appeared his shorts had fallen partially down his leg at that point. SHAVER’s motion was also consistent with attempting to pull his shorts up as they were falling off.”

Monique Portillo, the woman who was with Shaver, told police that she was also staying at the hotel on business, and that she and a male coworker had met Shaver in the elevator. Shaver invited them to do shots in his room, and when they arrived, Portillo asked Shaver about a case in the room, which she thought might contain a musical instrument. Shaver opened it, revealing the rifle and a dead sparrow. He told Portillo that he worked for Walmart and that his job was to kill birds that made their way into the store. (The store does apparently employ people to shoot and kill birds.)

Shaver and the other man began playing with the rifle, according to Portillo, pointing it out the window as they did so. Luis Nunez, the other man, left the room to call his wife before police arrived, Portillo said.

The report’s detailed description of Shaver’s death is sourced from an interview with Portillo and from body camera footage from one of the officers, which Mesa police have not released. Both state prosecutors and Brailsford’s defense attorneys are arguing that the footage should remain sealed.

BuzzFeed News notes that Laney Sweet, Shaver’s widow, recorded a conversation in which a prosecutor told her she could view the body camera footage, but only if she did not speak to the media about it. She declined, and uploaded audio of the conversation to YouTube.

Sweet also said in the video that prosecutors told her they planned to offer Brailsford a plea deal for negligent homicide—a lesser charge.

http://gawker.com/please-dont-shoot-...ium=socialflow

[Anti Federalist]

According to the police report, the officers who responded asked Shaver and a woman he was with to exit the room. Shaver exited, then raised his hands and dropped to his knees. An officer told him to lay on the ground, and he did. He was “obviously compliant and offered no resistance at that point,” the report reads. Then, Shaver was ordered to put his hands behind his head, cross his legs, and not move. If he moved, the officer told him, he would be considered a threat, and “may not survive it.”

The officers then ordered the woman Shaver was with to crawl towards them, and ordered Shaver back to a kneeling position. “If you do that again, we’re shooting you. Do you understand?” an officer asked him, apparently referencing Shaver’s failure to immediately raise his hands as he kneeled. “No, please don’t shoot me,” Shaver replied. At around this point, according to the report, he began sobbing.

Officers ordered Shaver to crawl toward them, and he complied, “audibly sobbing” as he did so. As he crawled, he briefly moved his hand toward his waist and back toward his body, and Officer Brailsford began shooting.

Words $#@!ing fail me...

OK, copsuckers, hankrichter I'm looking at you...$#@!ing defend this.

I $#@!ing dare you.

[libertyjam]

Arizona Judge Releases Body Cam Footage from Daniel Shaver Shooting Death

An Arizona judge finally released body cam footage from the shooting death of Daniel Shaver, which led to murder charges against Mesa police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford.
However, the videos are edited, removing the actual shooting of the unarmed man who died begging for his life.
But we already know Brailsford shot and killed Shaver after he was ordered to crawl towards police on his hands and knees.
And we already know that Brailsford was the only officer out of six that felt compelled to shoot.


Brailsford later told investigators that it was a “terrifying” experience for him as he watched the unarmed man crawling towards him – essentially saying he was in fear for his life.
But it was Shaver who was in fear for his life.

“Please don’t shoot me,” Shaver said according to a witness, who was also ordered to crawl towards police.
But Mesa Police Sergeant Charles Langley never gave him that assurance.
“There is a very severe possibility that if you make another mistake you are going to get shot,” Langley said according to prosecutor Susie Charbel as she read the transcript of the body cam footage in court.
Shaver then tried to ask a question.
“Shut up. I’m not here to be tactful and diplomatic with you. You listen, you obey.”
The incident took place on January 18, 2016 inside a fifth-floor hotel room where Shaver was showing his pellet guns to two acquaintances.

Mesa Police Officer Brailsford kneeling down in hallway niche with his AR-15 Rifle

People downstairs saw a man through the window appearing to be pointing a gun from inside and called the front desk, who in turn, called police.
After police ordered them out the room, they issued several commands to Shaver, telling him to show his hands, then place his hands on his head, then come crawling towards them.
As he was crawling towards them, his shorts kept slipping off, so he reached back to pull them back up, only to be threatened with death by one officer, which was when Shaver begged them not to shoot him.
However, his shorts slipped off again, prompting him to pull them up again, which was when Bailsford fired five times, killing the 26-year-old man instantly.
Two videos were released, the first one showing officers arriving to the hotel, the second one showing officers standing in the fifth-floor hallway, ordering Shaver and his acquaintance to step outside.
“Listen to my instructions or it’s going to be very uncomfortable for you,” one cop yells.
The video then cuts to a clip showing the woman asking the officers if Shaver is dead, telling them she is very scared.
The videos can be seen here and here.
“It is unfortunate that the Mesa PD coverup continues,” said Shaver’s widow, Laney Sweet, in an email to Photography is Not a Crime.
“My husband was brutally murdered while he begged for his life. Redacting the evidence won’t change the facts.”

[jllundqu]

I'm generally police-friendly on RPF... this is indefensible. Murder any way you slice it. No 'furtive gesture toward the waist' bull$#@! justifies this shooting.

[fisharmor]

I'm generally police-friendly

You, and everyone else who is generally police-friendly, are the reason why this continues to happen.
What they did to this man is their job.
What they did to this man has always been their job.
Always.

If you are friendly to the idea of police, you are friendly to the fact that there is a caste of thugs in this country who get paid to do exactly what they did to Shaver.
You are ok with this. You can pretend you're not, but as long as you're ok with the existence of cops, you're ok with this exact thing they did.
And you're ok with the fact that it took TWO $#@!ING MONTHS to charge him.
You know what that means? IT MEANS THERE WERE MULTIPLE OTHER COPS THERE WHO COULD HAVE TAKEN HIM INTO CUSTODY IMMEDIATELY.
They didn't. That means they were ALL IN ON IT.
And you're ok with that.

And you're ok with the fact that none of those other cops are going to get charged with accessory to murder.

And you're ok with the fact that Brailsford is either going to get a slap on the wrist, or walk free.

And you're ok with the fact that the training that created Brailsford isn't going to get changed in the slightest.

You're the problem. It's not the gangster thug police. It's the people who are their friends.

[EBounding]

Share this story with others. But make sure to replace "officer" with "gunman":

According to the police report, the gunmen who responded asked Shaver and a woman he was with to exit the room. Shaver exited, then raised his hands and dropped to his knees. A gunman told him to lay on the ground, and he did. He was “obviously compliant and offered no resistance at that point,” the report reads. Then, Shaver was ordered to put his hands behind his head, cross his legs, and not move. If he moved, the gunman told him, he would be considered a threat, and “may not survive it.”

The gunmen then ordered the woman Shaver was with to crawl towards them, and ordered Shaver back to a kneeling position. “If you do that again, we’re shooting you. Do you understand?” a gunman asked him, apparently referencing Shaver’s failure to immediately raise his hands as he kneeled. “No, please don’t shoot me,” Shaver replied. At around this point, according to the report, he began sobbing.

The gunmen ordered Shaver to crawl toward them, and he complied, “audibly sobbing” as he did so. As he crawled, he briefly moved his hand toward his waist and back toward his body, and gunman Brailsford began shooting.

[fisharmor]

Share this story with others. But make sure to replace "officer" with "gunman":

And be sure to point out that it took 2 months to file charges, and that multiple cops were there, witnessed it happen, and let him go.

[jllundqu]

From PINAC:

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2...nything-wrong/

A cop is on trial for murder, but his Arizona police union buddies have no problem using Facebook to slander the unarmed, dead-man that one of the Mesa Police shot in the back and killed, and whom prosecutors say, “didn’t do anything wrong.”

Prosecutors asked a judge seal the body cam video of Shaver being killed this week.

And they have repeatedly denied Daniel Shaver’s widow the right, to even see for herself the damning footage of her husband’s last moments, which will in all likelihood result in the killer cop’s criminal conviction, based on the Prosecutor’s plea deal offer. The DA’s crazy theory, heard in the video going viral that you can see below, is that by the widow seeing the evidence, it would then let her speak truthfully to the press about her husband’s death, and that is somehow wrong.

Doubtless, Mesa Police officers have seen the footage, they investigated the incident.

Maricopa County Prosecutor Bill Montgomery had a conversation in mid-March describing victim Daniel Shaver thusly to his widow (time 5:42 see below):


“What happened that day was the responsibility of the police officer. Your husband didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t. He was trying to comply.”

[jllundqu]

You, and everyone else who is generally police-friendly, are the reason why this continues to happen.
What they did to this man is their job.
What they did to this man has always been their job.
Always.

If you are friendly to the idea of police, you are friendly to the fact that there is a caste of thugs in this country who get paid to do exactly what they did to Shaver.
You are ok with this. You can pretend you're not, but as long as you're ok with the existence of cops, you're ok with this exact thing they did.
And you're ok with the fact that it took TWO $#@!ING MONTHS to charge him.
You know what that means? IT MEANS THERE WERE MULTIPLE OTHER COPS THERE WHO COULD HAVE TAKEN HIM INTO CUSTODY IMMEDIATELY.
They didn't. That means they were ALL IN ON IT.
And you're ok with that.

And you're ok with the fact that none of those other cops are going to get charged with accessory to murder.

And you're ok with the fact that Brailsford is either going to get a slap on the wrist, or walk free.

And you're ok with the fact that the training that created Brailsford isn't going to get changed in the slightest.

You're the problem. It's not the gangster thug police. It's the people who are their friends.

I understand you're passionate about this issue, but you have no $#@!ing idea who I am or what I think. Proclaiming that "I'm OK with murder" and "I'm OK with him getting a slap on the wrist" and that somehow "I'm the problem"

$#@! you.

I agreed with the OP. Simply because I happen to hold a different opinion of law enforcement IN GENERAL does not give you free reign to $#@! all over me.

If you weren't so blinded by your hatred of police, you might actually find that I agree with most of what is said about police abuse here. Killing dogs, no knock warrants, executing homeless, military equipment, all of it... I agree that all of it is bull$#@!. Don't you dare try to tell me I "Agree" with murder and police corruption.

[phill4paul]

I'm against the death penalty. However, in this case I'd make an exception. And I'd be happy to do the deed myself. In a public forum. Though I'd probably be charged with a hate crime.

[ChristianAnarchist]

COMPLY OR DIE!! Goons gonna goon...

[jllundqu]

COMPLY OR DIE!! Goons gonna goon...

That's the problem with this story. The guy COMPLIED AND STILL DIED. Straight up execution. Glad to see him charged.

[ChristianAnarchist]

That's the problem with this story. The guy COMPLIED AND STILL DIED. Straight up execution. Glad to see him charged.

He didn't comply good enough. There was no order given for him to pull up his pants...

Seems your best advice in such a situation is to lay sprawled out on your stomach with all four limbs stretched out and state that you are too afraid to move for fear of being shot. That MIGHT work unless the officers fear for their lives that you have a rocket concealed in your ass that you are going to fire by twitching your little finger...

[Anti Federalist]

“Shut up. I’m not here to be tactful and diplomatic with you. You listen, you obey.”

And there you have it.

$#@! you and comply...and maybe we won't kill you.

[heavenlyboy34]

And there you have it.

$#@! you and comply...and maybe we won't kill you.

That is basically the attitude of even the nicest cops I've talked to about this kind of thing.

[Mani]

And there you have it.

$#@! you and comply...and maybe we won't kill you.

But definitely still gonna beat the $#@! out of you.





Surrender mundane!!! We got roids to sweat out!!



And there you have your textbook mundane obeying and complying. Too bad there's no audio of the cops screaming, "Stop resisting!" while swinging at his face. I'm sure that's part of their gym routing. "Stop resisting!" *PUNCH* "Stop resisting!" *KICK* "Stop resisting!" *HOOK* ..and again!




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...mph-chase.html