Surprise surprise, the family of Jose Pena have sued the LAPD:
The mother of a 19-month-old killed by police during a shootout with her father has filed a claim accusing Los Angeles officers of causing the girl’s death by firing blindly during a rush to end a 2 1/2 -hour hostage standoff.
The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, asks for monetary damages from Chief William J. Bratton and several of his top commanders, as well as “systemic changes” in the training and tactics of the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT team, one of whose members fired the rifle that killed Suzie Pe?a at her father’s Watts car lot.
The child’s father, Jose Raul Pe?a, held the girl in his arms while repeatedly firing on officers and civilians from inside his used-car business, police said. Pe?a also was killed when SWAT officers moved in to try to rescue the child, police said.
“We want justice. Justice means every officer involved in the tragedy must be disciplined and fired if necessary, and that goes for William Bratton,” said Luis Carrillo, attorney for the child’s mother, Lorena Lopez.
“I want justice for my baby,” Lopez told reporters at a news conference outside police headquarters Tuesday to announce the claim. Lopez said she did not blame her husband, who was under investigation for threatening family members, for her daughter’s death.
Catch that? The Mother of the child who was killed does not blame the Father for the childs death. Even tho he was using the baby as a shield while he fired at the police. Unbelievable.
Of course no article from the LA Times would be complete without getting a quote from the head of the criminal and racist organization Nation of Islam:
Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, who recently alleged that he was beaten by LAPD officers during an arrest at a vigil, said the shooting never would have happened in Bel-Air, and he asserted that it was a symptom of “the mind-set of white supremacy and racism ? where black life, brown life and people of color’s life have no value in this system.”
The only new development in this saga is the fact that the family will be trying to use the flash bang grenade thrown into the building as bad tactics:
Lopez’s claim singles out the SWAT team’s release of a flash-bang grenade during the final confrontation in the office as “a flawed tactic,” saying that because of the smoke, officers fired indiscriminately.
The claim says patrol officers and SWAT team members were receiving fire from one another during the confrontation, escalating confusion and tension.
So the fact that they hoped to stun the suspect instead of killing him is now a “flawed tactic”.
Plus the family is also trying to say that there was a conspiracy to destroy the evidence because they moved the baby:
The mother also accuses the department of trying to destroy evidence by moving Suzie’s body.
The LAPD has said officers moved the body because they wanted to save the child, but Lopez’s claim says her daughter visibly was beyond medical hope at the time.
Which is just bull. I have rolled to many baby deaths. Some were ran over, some where SIDS, some were involved in traffic accidents. Each and EVERY time either we rolled the child or fire did because if there is ANY chance the baby can be saved we have to try. Sometimes just for the sake of the family, so they know in their heart that we tried everything. For this family to now say that it was a conspiracy just smacks of greed. This is all the family wants, money.
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LAPD Shooting
LAPD Shooting, Update
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Al “Race Baiter” Sharpton
LAPD Shooting, Update III
LAPD Shooting, Update IV
LAPD Shootings Update
LAPD Shooting, Update V
LAPD Shooting, Update VI
LAPD Shooting, Update VII
LAPD Shooting, Update VIII
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