Inmate was heard screaming "I'm sorry" and "stop" as he was beaten to death by guards
A mentally ill Santa Clara County inmate was heard screaming, “I’m sorry” and “Stop,” as he was allegedly beaten by correctional officers hours before he was found dead, authorities said Tuesday as they charged the jailers with murder.
Court documents described a brutal beating by three correctional officers at the Main Jail in San Jose that culminated in the death of 31-year-old Michael Tyree, who was found naked and covered in feces and vomit in his cell Aug. 27, hours after the beating was meted out when he initially refused to take his medication, prosecutors said.
The attack came after the jailers had roughed up another inmate, prosecutors charged.
Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodriguez, both 27, made their first appearance Tuesday afternoon in Superior Court since their arrests last week. All three are on unpaid leave in what Sheriff Laurie Smith has described as a “vile and cowardly act.” -- Tyree’s “distinctive voice could be heard screaming, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Stop,” the affidavit says. “Screaming could be heard throughout the pod for several minutes, and was accompanied by the sounds of thumping, wall banging and what sounded like blows to a person’s body.”
Wonder if Roger Federer would have been treated this way?
Tennis pro James Blake mistaken for suspect, slammed to the ground by 5 police officers
Retired professional tennis player and former Harvard student James Blake was slammed to the ground and detained outside of a hotel in New York City on Wednesday by five white NYPD officers who mistook him for a criminal suspect.
Blake, who is black, told the New York Daily News that he had just answered questions for a writer from a tennis magazine, and was standing outside of the Grand Hyatt hotel texting when he saw a man in a t-shirt and shorts charging towards him.
SEE ALSO: Wiz Khalifa shoved to ground by police after refusing to get off scooter
"Maybe I'm naïve, but I just assumed it was someone I went to high school with or something who was running at me to give me a big hug, so I smiled at the guy," he told the Daily News.
The officer, who Blake said was not wearing a badge, picked him up and threw him down on the ground, ordering him to lay face down, and told him, "don't say a word."
When Blake promised to cooperate and asked the officer what was happening, he was met with a firm "We'll tell you. You are in safe hands."
"I didn't feel very safe," Blake said.
After that, four other officers arrived on the scene, surrounding Blake as he lay on the sidewalk.
He was told that he had been identified by two unnamed people as someone involved in an identity theft ring in the area, and remained handcuffed and detained for 15 minutes before the last of the five officers realized their mistake and apologized — though he did not receive an apology from the first officer who tackled him.
When asked if he thought the incident was a case of racial profiling, he told the Daily News, "I don't know if it's as simple as that. To me it's as simple as unnecessary police force, no matter what my race is. In my mind there's probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there's no reason for anybody to do that to anybody."
"You'd think they could say, 'Hey, we want to talk to you. We are looking into something.' I was just standing there. I wasn't running. It's not even close [to being okay]. It's blatantly unnecessary. You would think at some point they would get the memo that this isn't okay, but it seems that there's no stopping it."
He also added that he would like an apology from the NYPD, and would like to know that there will be consequences for the officers involved "so they know it's not okay to go out there and do this again tomorrow."
"I have resources to get to the bottom of this. I have a voice," Blake said. "But what about someone who doesn't have those resources and doesn't have a voice?"
Though they have yet to issue a public apology, NYPD released the following statement to ThinkProgress on Wednesday afternoon:
“Today James Blake was detained by police in midtown Manhattan in regards to an ongoing investigation into fraudulently purchased cell phones, after being misidentified by a cooperating witness. Once Blake was properly identified and found to have no connection to the investigation, he was released from police custody immediately. In regards to the alleged improper use of force, the Police Commissioner directed the internal affairs bureau to investigate."
The police are your friends. Only if you're white!
Not only was tennis star James Blake innocent, so was the other black man NYPD said he looked like
Watch: Just-Released Video Shows Brutal Bodyslam Of Tennis Star James Blake By Police
In this shocking clip of security cam footage, tennis star James Blake is seen standing and minding his own business before a policeman bum-rushes and brutally tackles him to the ground, mistaking him for a suspect wanted in an identity theft case. “Blake looked remarkable to the suspect we were searching for, they could have been twin brothers,” said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Thursday.
It is utterly mystifying why the officer behaved with such brutality right off the back. No conversation, no attempt to establish his identity- just violence from start to finish. “It was definitely scary and definitely crazy. In my mind there’s probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there’s no reason for anybody to do that to anybody” said James Blake, when pressed for comment. In a further twist, the man the NYPD was looking for- for identity theft– was also innocent. It is a testament to Blake’s athleticism that he dealt with the tackle so gracefully.
The lack of respect for African-Americans shown by our police forces is very disturbing. While not all police officers behave this way, it would appear there are some deep racial issues within police culture that America must address.
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