Cop in Fatal Shooting of Ex-Marine Kenneth Chamberlain Was Sued in 2008 Racism Case

[Bonobo]

http://www.alternet.org/story/154883/cop_in_fatal_shooting_of_ex-marine_kenneth_chamberlain_was_sued_in_2008_racism_case?akid=8536.296015._J9Wzd&rd=1&t=24

The alleged shooter, Officer Anthony Carelli, is due in court later this month in an unrelated 2008 police brutality case. He is accused of being the most brutal of a group of officers who allegedly beat two arrestees of Jordanian descent and called them "rag heads." We speak to Gus Dimopoulos, attorney for Jerry and Sal Hatter. "We allege that the police officers, while in the custody of the White Plains Police Department back at the station, you know, severely beat Jerry while being restrained by handcuffs. They hit him in the face with a nightstick, they kicked, they punched, they punched him, and then essentially charged him with a crime," Dimopoulos said.

Despite repeated requests from Chamberlain’s family for the name of the officer who killed him, White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong only named Carelli as the shooter this morning, after his name appeared in an article written by Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News. The White Plains police have refused to say whether Carelli has been disciplined or assigned to desk duty after the fatal shooting of Chamberlain. We get an update on the Chamberlain case from the victim's son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., and his two attorneys, Mayo Bartlett and Abdulwali Muhammad. We also speak with Gus Dimopoulos, a lawyer for the 2008 victims, Jereis Hatter and Salameh Hatter.



JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, that’s right, Amy. It’s been a tightly kept secret, the identity of the White Plains officer who fatally shot Mr. Chamberlain. His name is Officer Anthony Carelli. In a shocking twist, the News has also learned that Carelli is due in court later this month in a federal police brutality case. Jereis Hatter and Salameh Hatter claim Carelli was the most brutal of the officers who beat and kicked them while they were handcuffed during a disorderly conduct arrest in 2008, calling them, quote, "rag heads." Their parents are Jordanian immigrants. The brothers say Carelli beat Jereis Hatter with a police baton, causing head and eye injuries, while he was handcuffed to a poll in the police station. All charges against the brothers were later dismissed. They have now sued, alleging excessive force and federal civil rights violations.

Meanwhile, the mayor of White Plains has finally offered his condolences to the family of Kenneth Chamberlain, the 68-year-old veteran fatally shot by police in his own home. Chamberlain, an African-American former Marine, was killed after police responded to a false alert from his medical pendant.

[Kalidurga]

1. No way this "cop" should have been allowed on the streets...

Now instead of just being accused of brutality, he is going to face murder charges on top of that. He probably watched one too many episodes of The Shield and thought he could get away with what he was doing.

[The Magistrate]

2. So Had He Been Promptly Arrested And Tried In 2008, Sir, This Later Murder Would Not Have Happened

[Bonobo]

3. Precisely.

And that is why it is so vital that the entire US police force be "rethought" from the ground up.

From a broader anthropological perspective, it is clear to me at least that the relationship that exists between the police and the US citizens is not a healthy one as things stand.

[Logical]

4. The police unions only worry about protection the cops, they do not really.....

give a shit about the public.

How many time has the police union said "this cop actually deserves to get fired"?