(CHICAGO) — After just 10 hours of deliberation, a Chicago jury has found actor Jussie Smollett guilty on five of six counts for filing a false police report related to the hoax racist attack he suffered at the hands of two men in January 2019.
The “Empire” actor alleged he was attacked, doused with an unknown liquid, had a noose placed around his neck and called racist and homophobic slurs by two men late at night on a Chicago street. He has maintained it was not orchestrated by himself.
He did not show any reaction as the verdicts were read.
Smollett was charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report.
The defense rested its case on Tuesday after a week of testimony, with Smollett taking the stand in his own defense. He alleged Abimbola and Ola Osundairo, the brothers who carried out the assault, were lying when they said during the trial that they were friends of Smollett and had been paid $3,500 to carry out the attack.
Smollett, 39, received widespread support in the wake of the attack and made an emotional appearance at a concert in early February 2019, but then word emerged after authorities spoke to the Osundario brothers’ return from overseas that the attack was allegedly a hoax. Smollett was charged on Feb. 20, 2019, with Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson saying the attack was orchestrated because he was unhappy with his salary on the Fox hit show.
The charges were dropped against Smollett in March 2019, but a special prosecutor announced an indictment for the six disorderly conduct charges was handed down in February 2020. Smollett pleaded not guilty.
The jury deliberated for about three hours on Wednesday and then began again on Thursday morning.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The lack of police department participation in reporting use-of-force incidents could result in the FBI never publishing the data and the collection effort being shut down, according to a report released this week by the Government Accountability Office.
In 2019, the FBI launched a voluntary use of force reporting system, designed to create a national database for law enforcement use-of-force incidents, in an effort to provide better transparency and accountability. It was started in 2016, when then-FBI Director Jim Comey stated his intention to have the FBI capture use-of-force data.
“It is a narrative driven by video images of real and gut-wrenching misconduct, by images of possible misconduct, by images of perceived misconduct,” Comey said in 2016. “It’s a narrative given force by the awesome power of human empathy.”
Recent police use-of-force incidents have resulted in discipline or criminal charges. Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder after he put a knee on George Floyd’s neck over Memorial Day weekend in 2020. Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, officer Kim Potter is currently on trial for allegedly mistaking her gun for a Taser and killing Daunte Wright.
In 2019, the FBI received 44% of participation and in 2020, 55% participation, the report, released Tuesday, said.
“I think the lack of ability to have reliable and comprehensive data on police use of force is one of the biggest things that is, in my view, is hampering law enforcement’s objective, which is really to gain trust to the community,” Jason C. Johnson, President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, told ABC News. “It’s an area that, we’re very clearly, it has struggled in recent years. And so it is critical that we have thorough, comprehensive data about police use of force.”
The Office of Budget and Management tasked the FBI with reporting out the data.
“Due to insufficient participation from law enforcement agencies, the FBI faces risks that it may not meet the participation thresholds established in OMB’s terms of clearance for publishing data from the National Use-of-Force Data Collection, and therefore may never publish use-of-force incident data from the collection,” the GAO report says.
Johnson and Sheriff Vernon Stanforth of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio agree that some local communities don’t have the staffing or funding to fulfill these voluntary data requests.
“An agency has to [sometimes] decide: ‘Do I hire a clerical person or do I hire road units to protect my communities? So, which do I spend my money on?,'” Stanforth, who serves as president of the National Sheriff’s Association, said.
The report says the data collection will be “discontinued” by the end of 2022, if more departments don’t participate.
The stipulation by the OMB says that if the FBI does not reach 60% cooperation by the end of 2022, “the FBI was to end the data collection effort and explore alternatives for collecting law enforcement use-of-force data.”
If there is 60% of cooperation by law enforcement agencies, FBI will publish “limited information.”
Amid the calls for policing reform following the Floyd killing, President Trump Donald Trump issued an executive order tying database reporting to federal funding — on top of the existing FBI program.
The order called for the database to “include a mechanism to track, as permissible, terminations or de-certifications of law enforcement officers, criminal convictions of law enforcement officers for on-duty conduct, and civil judgments against law enforcement officers for improper use of force. The database … shall account for instances where a law enforcement officer resigns or retires while under active investigation related to the use of force.”
But a Congressional Research Service report that addressed whether a potential cutoff in federal grant funding provided enough incentive for local departments to comply concluded that “it most likely accounts for a relatively small portion of any local government’s policing budget.”
(STOCKTON, Calif.) — A shirtless man screaming and wielding a handgun was fatally shot by police after he charged at several officers and refused to put down his gun outside the police headquarters building in Stockton, California, authorities said.
The police-involved shooting began around 8:30 p.m. local time Wednesday when the Stockton Police Communications Center began receiving reports that an armed assailant, who was not immediately identified, was firing a gun outside the headquarters building, Stockton police said in a statement on Thursday.
Six Stockton police officers charged out of the building’s front door and confronted the alleged shooter in the parking lot, according to the statement.
“The suspect was screaming and armed with a firearm. The officers told the suspect to get on the ground and drop the gun,” according to the police statement.
The man initially complied and got on the ground, but allegedly refused to drop his firearm, which police described as a Colt semiautomatic pistol, according to the statement.
As officers approached the man, he allegedly stood up and pointed his weapon at the officers, police said.
“Five officers fired their service weapons, shooting the man,” according to the police statement.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
“For a while, before they (the officers) were forced to fire, they were ordering the person to drop the gun and it wasn’t until he charged right toward them that they opened fire,” Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said during a news conference Wednesday night.
Jones said several civilians were in the police department parking lot at the time of the shooting.
No officers or bystanders were injured in the incident.
The officers involved in the shooting were identified as Nicole Williams, Nicholas Frayer, Hao Tran, Seth Powell and Ruben Rillon. Officials said three of the officers have been on the police force since 2019, one since 2017 and one joined the department last year.
The Stockton Police Department, the California Department of Justice and the San Joaquin district attorney’s office are conducting a joint investigation of the shooting.
“I have not seen anything like this,” Jones said. “I’ve been here nearly 30 years with Stockton PD, nearly 10 years as police chief, and for somebody to come right into the police department like this and fire the weapon, and then charge right at the officers with the weapon is very unique.”
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — Daunte Wright’s girlfriend, Alayna Albrecht-Payton, tearfully recalled his final moments on the witness stand on day two of the trial of former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter.
Albrecht-Payton was in the passenger seat of the car when Wright was pulled over by police on April 11. She and Wright had not made their relationship official, she said, but they had been dating for a few weeks before the fatal incident.
“He was really scared — I’d never seen him like that before,” Albrecht-Payton said. “If you know Daunte, he’s really happy and positive and you can’t be sad or depressed or angry around him.”
Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Wright during a traffic stop. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Potter shot Wright in the chest after he escaped from the officers’ hold and scuffled with officers in the driver’s seat of the car. After being shot, Wright drove off. Albrecht-Payton said she did not remember Wright’s hands being on the wheel as they rode several blocks before swerving into another lane and crashing into another car.
Albrecht-Payton also testified that she does not remember some of what happened because she suffered from a concussion, a fractured jaw, a lacerated lip and had to get stitches on her ear from the car crash.
After they crashed, a video call from Wright’s mother came through and Albrecht-Payton said she picked up.
“I was delirious, I was just screaming, ‘they just shot him, they just shot him,'” Albrecht-Payton said.
On day one of the trial, Katie Bryant, also known as Katie Wright, recalled her version of the events: “She was screaming. I was like ‘what’s wrong?’ And she said that they shot him and she faced the phone towards the driver’s seat.”
Albrecht-Payton said she was sorry that she did so. She recalled the moments while sobbing, and prosecutor Erin Elridge continuously confirmed Albrecht-Payton’s statements.
“I hear you saying that no mom should see her son dead on the phone and you know that that hurt her and you apologize for that?” Elridge asked.
“Just dead, period, but yes,” Albrecht-Payton said.
She said Wright was gasping for air after they crashed the car and she begged him to talk to her, “I replay that image in my head daily,” Albrecht-Payton said.
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Two juveniles have been arrested in connection to a shooting at a Louisville, Kentucky, school bus stop that killed a 16-year-old.
The juveniles, whose names were not released, were taken into custody Wednesday on multiple charges including complicity to murder and complicity to first-degree assault, Louisville Metropolitan Police said.
Tyree Smith, 16, was killed in the Sept. 22 drive-by shooting and two 14-year-olds were injured. All three were waiting for the bus to go to Eastern High School.
Smith “was doing everything we ask of kids and he’s murdered while standing waiting on his school bus,” police chief Erika Shields said at a news conference Thursday.
“We simply must be do better,” she said.
To Smith’s family, the chief said, “I’m sorry we’re here, but hopefully, in some small way, the arrest of your son’s murderers will bring you a morsel of relief.”
Police said the investigation is not over and it is possible that others could be arrested.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The trial of former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter charged in the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, began Wednesday.
Opening statements took place in the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 incident. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Potter has said she meant to grab her stun gun, but accidentally shot her firearm instead when she and other officers were attempting to arrest Wright, who had escaped the officers’ grip and was scuffling with them when he was shot.
Wright was initially pulled over for an expired registration tag on his car, but officers discovered he had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge and tried to detain him, according to former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon.
The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter, it’s 10 years and a $20,000 fine.
Wright’s death reignited protests against racism and police brutality across the U.S., as the killing took place just outside of Minneapolis, where the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, was taking place.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 09, 3:09 am
Minnesota governor prepares National Guard ‘out of an abundance of caution’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced that he is preparing the Minnesota National Guard to provide public safety assistance if necessary during Kim Potter’s trial, as requested by Hennepin County and the city of Brooklyn Center.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are prepared to ask members of the Minnesota National Guard to be available to support local law enforcement with the mission of allowing for peaceful demonstrations, keeping the peace, and ensuring public safety,” Walz said in a statement Wednesday evening.
A press release from Walz’s press office stated that, “at this time, the Minnesota National Guard will not be proactively assuming posts throughout the Twin Cities.” Guard members will only operate in support of local law enforcement “should they be needed,” according to the press release.
Dec 08, 6:49 pm
New body-cam footage shows Potter moments after shooting Wright
New body-worn camera footage played in the courtroom while the prosecution questioned Brooklyn Center officer Anthony Luckey showed the moments after Kim Potter shot Daunte Wright.
In the video, taken from Luckey’s body-worn camera, Potter can be seen falling to the curb.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” she said, before hyperventilating for several minutes with her face buried in the grass.
Luckey’s and Sgt. Mychal Johnson’s arms can be seen reaching down to Potter.
“Just breathe,” Luckey can be heard saying.
“I’m going to go to prison,” Potter said.
“No, you’re not,” Luckey said.
“Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car!” Johnson said in the video.
(INDIANAPOLIS) — Police in Indiana are asking the public to help find a missing 15-year-old girl who they said may be in danger.
Cabrini Stott was last seen on Sunday, Dec. 5, in the 5800 block of Village Plaza S. Dr. in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.
Police said in a statement they believe Stott “may possibly be in danger,” but on Thursday a police spokesperson declined to provide more information.
Stott, a 10th grader at BELIEVE Circle City High School, was last at school on Friday, the school’s executive director, Kimberly Neal-Brannum, told ABC News.
Neal-Brannum said the teen has “a smile that’ll light up a room,” describing her as “smart, funny, charismatic, athletic, involved in school.”
“She’s a good volunteer. She does a lot of community service,” Neal-Brannum said. “She definitely is a good kid.”
Cabrini has black hair and brown eyes. She stands at 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Missing Persons detectives at 317-327-6160 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 793,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 60.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 09, 5:57 am
Omicron spreads but severe cases remain low in South Africa, WHO says
The World Health Organization said Thursday that preliminary data indicates hospitalizations in South Africa remain low, offering “signs of hope,” despite the fact that the omicron variant is spreading rapidly and weekly COVID-19 cases on the African continent have surged by 93%.
In the week ending on Dec. 5, southern Africa recorded a 140% hike in COVID-19 cases, the highest of any region on the continent for that period, mainly driven by an uptick in South Africa, according to the WHO. While researchers are still working to determine whether omicron is fueling the surge, the WHO said that emerging data from South Africa indicates the new variant may cause less severe illness. Data on COVID-19 hospitalizations across South Africa between Nov. 14 and Dec. 4 show that intensive care unit occupancy was only 6.3%, which the WHO said is very low compared with the same period when the country was facing the peak linked to the delta variant in July.
Furthermore, data from the same two-week period from one of the South African health districts most impacted by omicron show that out of more than 1,200 hospital admissions related to COVID-19, there were 98 patients receiving supplemental oxygen and only four on ventilators. The WHO cautioned that the data is “very preliminary with a small sample size and most of the people admitted to the health facilities were under the age of 40.”
Since omicron was first identified in southern Africa in November, confirmed cases of the variant have been reported in 57 countries around the world. In an effort to prevent the spread of the new variant, more than 70 countries have imposed travel bans that are mainly targeting southern African nations, some of which have yet to report any omicron cases, according to the WHO.
“With Omicron now present in nearly 60 countries globally, travel bans that mainly target African countries are hard to justify,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement Thursday. “Through the diligent surveillance efforts of African scientists, the new variant of concern was first detected on this continent, but it’s unclear if transmission was taking place silently in other regions. We call for science-based public health measures to counter the spread of COVID-19. The travel restrictions come at the height of the end-of-year tourist season, ravaging Africa’s economies, with a knock-on impact that is potentially devastating to the health of Africans.”
Dec 08, 9:44 pm
FDA authorizes antibody cocktail for use before COVID-19 exposure
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first monoclonal antibody therapy for use before COVID-19 exposure.
AstraZeneca’s Evusheld antibody cocktail can now be given to certain people for preventative use against the virus, including those who are moderately to severely immunocomromised due to a medical condition or medication, and those who have a history of severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine. People also must not be currently infected with COVID-19 or have been recently exposed to the virus.
In a recent Phase III clinical trial, AstraZeneca found that the therapy reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 infections by 83% in people who did not have the virus, had not been exposed to it and were unvaccinated, when compared to the placebo group.
AstraZeneca told ABC News it is testing the product against the new omicron variant and is “hopeful” that it will hold up against it. Results are expected to become available “within weeks,” the company said. So far, Evusheld has been found to neutralize all previous COVID-19 variants of concern, it said.
AstraZeneca said it has agreed to supply the U.S. government with 700,000 doses of Evusheld, which will be distributed to states and territories at no cost and on a pro-rata basis.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Dec 08, 9:40 pm
New Hampshire deploying National Guard to hospitals amid surge
New Hampshire will be deploying National Guard members to hospitals statewide to provide support as the state sees a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday.
Seventy members will be deployed in the coming week and assist with food service and clerical work, officials said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be sending a team of 30 paramedics to help the hospitals with the highest COVID-19 burdens, the governor said.
There are 462 current COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state, the highest since the pandemic began.
Dec 08, 8:48 pm
Senate votes to repeal Biden mandate; won’t affect rule due to objection in House
The Senate passed a repeal of President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private businesses with over 100 employees by a vote of 52-48 Wednesday night, but the mandate is not threatened due to opposition in the Democrat-controlled House.
Two Democrats crossed party lines and voted with Republicans to repeal the mandate. The votes cast by Sens. Joe Manchin, . and Jon Tester, D-Mont., were expected.
While the legislation has now passed the Senate, it will almost certainly not impact the mandate.
It’s unclear if the Senate-passed repeal will even be brought up in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not required to bring it up for a floor vote, and at least 218 signatures would be needed to force consideration. Even then, if the House were to pass it, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that Biden would veto it should it land on his desk.
The mandate faces stiffer opposition in ongoing legal challenges from several Republican-led states.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 793,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 60.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 09, 9:30 am
US processing 1 million PCR tests per day
The U.S. is processing 1 million PCR tests each day, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton during an interview Wednesday at the CDC’s Emergency Operation Center.
“That gives us a really good window as to test positivity,” Walensky said. “It also gives us the samples we need in order to sequence, because we can’t sequence from a rapid test.”
“The rapid tests, I think, have another important role, and that is to empower people to help make smart decisions,” Walensky said. “Don’t do a test that you’re not going to do anything with the information. Most people now who do a rapid test are doing so either to protect themselves or somebody who they’re about to go see or some family member. And so they are generally motivated, I would say, to do the right thing with the result.”
-ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss, Sony Salzman
Dec 09, 5:57 am
Omicron spreads but severe cases remain low in South Africa, WHO says
The World Health Organization said Thursday that preliminary data indicates hospitalizations in South Africa remain low, offering “signs of hope,” despite the fact that the omicron variant is spreading rapidly and weekly COVID-19 cases on the African continent have surged by 93%.
In the week ending on Dec. 5, southern Africa recorded a 140% hike in COVID-19 cases, the highest of any region on the continent for that period, mainly driven by an uptick in South Africa, according to the WHO. While researchers are still working to determine whether omicron is fueling the surge, the WHO said that emerging data from South Africa indicates the new variant may cause less severe illness. Data on COVID-19 hospitalizations across South Africa between Nov. 14 and Dec. 4 show that intensive care unit occupancy was only 6.3%, which the WHO said is very low compared with the same period when the country was facing the peak linked to the delta variant in July.
Furthermore, data from the same two-week period from one of the South African health districts most impacted by omicron show that out of more than 1,200 hospital admissions related to COVID-19, there were 98 patients receiving supplemental oxygen and only four on ventilators. The WHO cautioned that the data is “very preliminary with a small sample size and most of the people admitted to the health facilities were under the age of 40.”
Since omicron was first identified in southern Africa in November, confirmed cases of the variant have been reported in 57 countries around the world. In an effort to prevent the spread of the new variant, more than 70 countries have imposed travel bans that are mainly targeting southern African nations, some of which have yet to report any omicron cases, according to the WHO.
“With Omicron now present in nearly 60 countries globally, travel bans that mainly target African countries are hard to justify,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement Thursday. “Through the diligent surveillance efforts of African scientists, the new variant of concern was first detected on this continent, but it’s unclear if transmission was taking place silently in other regions. We call for science-based public health measures to counter the spread of COVID-19. The travel restrictions come at the height of the end-of-year tourist season, ravaging Africa’s economies, with a knock-on impact that is potentially devastating to the health of Africans.”
Dec 08, 9:44 pm
FDA authorizes antibody cocktail for use before COVID-19 exposure
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first monoclonal antibody therapy for use before COVID-19 exposure.
AstraZeneca’s Evusheld antibody cocktail can now be given to certain people for preventative use against the virus, including those who are moderately to severely immunocomromised due to a medical condition or medication, and those who have a history of severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine. People also must not be currently infected with COVID-19 or have been recently exposed to the virus.
In a recent Phase III clinical trial, AstraZeneca found that the therapy reduced the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 infections by 83% in people who did not have the virus, had not been exposed to it and were unvaccinated, when compared to the placebo group.
AstraZeneca told ABC News it is testing the product against the new omicron variant and is “hopeful” that it will hold up against it. Results are expected to become available “within weeks,” the company said. So far, Evusheld has been found to neutralize all previous COVID-19 variants of concern, it said.
AstraZeneca said it has agreed to supply the U.S. government with 700,000 doses of Evusheld, which will be distributed to states and territories at no cost and on a pro-rata basis.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
Dec 08, 9:40 pm
New Hampshire deploying National Guard to hospitals amid surge
New Hampshire will be deploying National Guard members to hospitals statewide to provide support as the state sees a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, Gov. Chris Sununu announced Wednesday.
Seventy members will be deployed in the coming week and assist with food service and clerical work, officials said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be sending a team of 30 paramedics to help the hospitals with the highest COVID-19 burdens, the governor said.
There are 462 current COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state, the highest since the pandemic began.
Dec 08, 8:48 pm
Senate votes to repeal Biden mandate; won’t affect rule due to objection in House
The Senate passed a repeal of President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private businesses with over 100 employees by a vote of 52-48 Wednesday night, but the mandate is not threatened due to opposition in the Democrat-controlled House.
Two Democrats crossed party lines and voted with Republicans to repeal the mandate. The votes cast by Sens. Joe Manchin, . and Jon Tester, D-Mont., were expected.
While the legislation has now passed the Senate, it will almost certainly not impact the mandate.
It’s unclear if the Senate-passed repeal will even be brought up in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not required to bring it up for a floor vote, and at least 218 signatures would be needed to force consideration. Even then, if the House were to pass it, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that Biden would veto it should it land on his desk.
The mandate faces stiffer opposition in ongoing legal challenges from several Republican-led states.
(BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn.) — As the trial of former police officer Kim Potter begins in Minnesota, the Brooklyn Center City Council has officially backed the formation of a new public safety department that will reimagine how traffic stops in the city are handled.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by Potter during a traffic stop in April. He was initially stopped for an expired registration tag, and when officers discovered he had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, they tried to detain him.
That’s when things turned deadly: During a struggle, Potter shot Wright, and he drove off and crashed the car a few blocks away, according to officials. Wright has said she accidentally grabbed her firearm instead of her stun gun when she shot him.
Potter is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The city council has now designated $1.3 million to fund the promises made in a police reform resolution that was passed back in May 2021 following Wright’s death.
“This is a real landmark moment,” Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott, who is also a council member, said in an interview with ABC News. “This is a start, and it is still a big step forward in doing this work.”
Wright’s death spurred a movement
Elliott created and presented the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act less than a month following Wright’s death. Dimock-Heisler was a 21-year-old man on the autism spectrum who was fatally shot by Brooklyn Center officers during a domestic disturbance call last year. Charges were not filed against the officers.
The city council quickly voted unanimously to pass the resolution in honor of the two men.
“We’re taking a bold step here, this city,” Elliott said at a May 15 city council session discussing the vote. “But we can do it. We’re gonna do it.”
On Monday, the Brooklyn Center city council voted in favor of reducing police funding by about 1.6% in the upcoming year and shifting funds to create the new Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. Brooklyn Center police will still be funded more than they were in 2020, according to budget documents shown at the meeting.
Along with the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, which will be responsible for “overseeing all city agencies and city efforts regarding community health and public safety,” according to the resolution, there will be a new Community Response Department composed of unarmed, trained medical and mental health professionals and social workers to assist with medical, mental health and disability-related calls.
An unarmed, civilian Traffic Enforcement Department will also be created to response to “non-moving” traffic violations.
“[Police departments] are coming around and seeing how valuable this type of transformation is, and how much it frees them up from having to respond to mental health calls and calls related to social work,” Elliott said.
A New York Times investigation found that in the last five years, police killed more than 400 people during traffic stops, all of whom were not displaying a gun or a knife, or were under pursuit for a violent crime when they were killed. LINK?
The city will also implement a “citation and summons” policy requiring officers to only issue citations and ban “custodial arrests or searches of persons or vehicles for any non-moving traffic infraction, non-felony offense or non-felony warrant,” the resolution reads.
“This is what could happen in many small cities across this country,” said Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the local Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group CAIR-Minnesota. “The merits of this resolution is to do less harm and evaluate the amount of workload that police officers have to engage in that can create very volatile and dangerous situations for the public.”
The resolution also seeks to create new use of force policies and establish a new Community Safety and Violence Prevention Committee, composed of mostly city residents with direct or close experience with arrests, detention or contact with Brooklyn Center police.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department deferred to City of Brooklyn Center representatives for comment, who did not respond to ABC News’ requests. Elliott said BCPD officials are supportive of the compromises made on the resolution.
Still more to do, activists say
The ambitions of the initial proposal for the new department have been somewhat muted in the final revision of the budget.
Funds for 14 open police department positions were initially supposed to support the department’s creation, but the council approved freezing only three currently vacant police positions and instead will use lodging taxes and grants to assist in paying for the public safety changes for now.
Although the goal is to have 24/7 service to completely replace officers in traffic enforcement, according to Elliott, it’s not set in stone.
“I am fully committed to continuing to work with the community to make sure that the rest resolution is Public Safety Act and the programs and are fully funded in the year 2022,” Elliott said.
Katie Wright, Wright’s mother, was among many during the Dec. 6 city council budget meeting who expressed concern that this proposal would fall short of the original vision passed in April — a proposal named for her son.
“I don’t want my son’s name on a resolution that is not going to be effective, that is going to cause so much adversity in the community and that people are not in support of,” she said.
Local activists, who have been involved in the police reform efforts, say this is the first step toward fixing what they say is a broken criminal justice system. However, the over $9 million budget given to police — the most funding given to any government initiative in Brooklyn Center by a wide margin — is a point of contention for some.
“We know that anytime something is funded, that’s what gives it its power,” said Toshira Garraway, founder of support group Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, which is working with Wright’s family.
Citing the four fatal civilian shootings by law enforcement in Brooklyn Center since Wright’s death, she said that treading lightly on reform initiatives is not the way to go.
“We have to start doing what makes sense and we have to try a different avenue,” Garraway said. “We can’t go about things the same way and think that we’re gonna get a different outcome.”
ABC News’ Adia Robinson contributed to this report.
