Detroit police kill seven-year-old child

[Hannah Bell]

Detroit police shot and killed a seven-year-old girl during an early morning raid of a home on the city’s east side Sunday morning. The child, Aiyana Stanley Jones, was struck in the head and neck area while sleeping on a couch at the home on Lillibridge Street.

In a Sunday morning press conference Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee said police were executing a “no-knock” search warrant for a homicide suspect in the two-apartment home. He said the police—members of the heavily armed Special Response Team—threw a flash grenade through an unopened window around 12:45 a.m. before charging in with guns drawn.

Godbee claimed the policeman’s gun discharged after he “had some level of physical contact” with the girl’s 47-year-old grandmother, Mertilla Jones. The police were not categorizing the shooting as accidental yet, Godbee said, "although we don't believe the gun was discharged intentionally."

Charles Jones, father of the slain girl, said he rushed from a back bedroom to see his mother being pushed through the door and another police officer carrying his bleeding daughter from the house. “They came into my house with a flash grenade and a bullet," Jones told the Detroit News. "They say my mother (Mertilla Jones) resisted them, that she tried to take an officer's gun. My mother had never been in handcuffs in her life. They killed my baby and I want someone to tell the truth..."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/detr-m17.shtml

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[fasttense]

1. As we militarize our police, small children get in the way

and are acceptable collateral damage.

[Echo In Light]

6. Real, armed, tough-guy MEN don't give a shit 'bout them brats!

[malaise]

12. The poor child was sleeping

It's time for me to jump off this cruel planet.

[avaistheone1]

13. Something needs to be done fast about this militarization of the police.

These robocops are not human. We don't need this horror in our communities.

[arcadian]

2. Just throw a Al-Qeada's #2 label on the 7 year old

and everything will be hunky-dory.

[lpbk2713]

3. " ... struck in the head and neck area"

*** Graphic Warning ***


They probably couldn't be any more specific than that simply because a small body was impacted by
a police round fired from a large bore handgun. I suspect there wasn't much left of her head.

[Hannah Bell]

4. k

[Rex]

5. Don't believe the gun was discharged intentionally? Hits in the neck and head?

Thank God she was sleeping, wait how could she be sleep after all that noise? I bet she sat up and one of them shot her dead without even giving it a thought...I can't wait to hear how the cops are going to lie themselves out of this one.

EDIT - I bet if they would have served a warrant, the little girl would still be alive imo.

[fishbulb703]

7. No-Knock warrants are the epitomy of a police state. 4th and 5th Amendment? Ugh. nt

[Echo In Light]

8. "Antiquated," "quaint," "technicality," i.e. "coddling criminals"

The sort of thing I suspect fascists of all stripes sexually fantasize about

[fishbulb703]

10. Haha, I definetely don't doubt that Bush's higher ups had those predilictions.

Every despotic government is run by people with antisocial personality disorder.

[Fire1]

9. I have to go with the cop on this one. Damn, I hate that. n/t

[malaise]

11. I saw her father on GEM$NBC this morning

and tears came to my eyes. There is one word for this beautiful child's death - murder.

[sabrina 1]

14. It is murder and I hope the person responsible has already

been arrested as any other citizen would be. S/he is entitled to a fair trial just like anyone else.

But that person is a threat to the public whoever they are and they definitely should not be carrying any weapons.

It is an OUTRAGE that the police do this, on a regular basis, killing dogs, killing innocent people by 'mistake' and children.

I don't know how the U.S. Constitution came to be nothing more than a piece of paper, but I was NOT aware that the police could knock down doors, dressed up like Robo Cops, come into your home, shoot your pets and children, and get away with it.

It happens because there are far too many people rationalizing these crimes.

How long before someone comes into THIS thread and tries to rationalize this murder?

R.I.P. once again to yet another small victim of U.S. Government brutality ~ :cry:

SWAT Teams and heavily armed police should be ILLEGAL on U.S. streets used against U.S. citizens. When did that change?