Time - Manslaughter charges against a Texas cop who shot and killed an unarmed black man have been dropped by a federal judge, after he ruled that the police officer had federal immunity at the time because of his work with the FBI.
Charles Kleinert, a former Austin police detective who also worked for the FBI, killed 32-year-old Larry Jackson Jr. after shooting him in the neck following a chase in Texas on July 26, 2013. Kleinert was initially indicted on manslaughter charges by a Texas grand jury for the crime. However, on June 26, 2015, he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment.
On the day of the shooting, Kleinert was investigating a bank robbery in Austin, which falls under his duties as a federal officer, according to the Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting Motion to Dismiss written by District Judge Lee Yeakel. Kleinert was speaking with bank employees when Jackson appeared at the entrance of the bank and tried to enter through the locked door, state court documents.
Kleinert exited the building to apprehend Jackson. After a few minutes of conversation, Jackson got up and ran away. Kleinert shot Jackson after he allegedly failed to obey verbal orders to stop.
Judge Yeakel ruled Thursday that Kleinert was protected by the supremacy clause in the Constitution, designed to defend federal officers from prosecution while on duty, and that Texas courts had no jurisdiction over his case. Texas prosecutors had initially stated that Kleinert was acting as an Austin police officer, not a federal officer, when he killed Jackson.
1 comment:
Another example of why our government has lost its way and needs to be replaced by something new. So, yet another trigger-happy cop gets off on what is simply a questionable technicality. Police are legally armed and are authorized to use deadly force. Consequently, they must be held to a higher standard than the average Joe. Since when is running away and ignoring police orders an offense warranting being shot? Did Mr Jackson hurt or threaten anybody? No. Are we under marshal law? Are police allowed to be judge, jury and executioner? Apparently yes.
I'm a 68 year old white man from a middle class background. I used to call myself a conservative back when that didn't mean a greedy bastard and a warmonger. Why is it that after all these years of relative indifference to injustices, I now find myself sympathizing with black so-called radicals? I thought people were supposed to get more conservative as they got older. But I am starting to see the truth and it is not pretty. Don't think this important? We are creating a hell on earth with our domestic policies - and certainly our foreign ones too.
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