This Shocking Video Appears To Show Baltimore Police Planting Drugs At A Crime Scene

The defendant charged in the case involving the drugs shown in the video was scheduled to go to trial this week. The case has been dropped.

Shocking footage from a Baltimore police officer’s body-worn camera appears to show the cop planting drugs at the scene of a crime that officials have confirmed was used to implicate a defendant scheduled to face trial on the charges this week.

In the video, the police officer appears to place a bag of pills under some garbage in an alley. He then walks back out to the street, at which point he activates the body camera. But because the cameras are programmed to capture the 30 seconds prior to activation, the officer’s actions before returning from the alley were recorded.

“I’m going to check here,” he can be heard saying, before he walks back down the alley. After furrowing around in the trash for a couple seconds, the officer locates the bag inside a soup can and exclaims “yo!” as he holds it up to his two fellow officers.

Fox Baltimore reports that the defendant who was arrested in connection with the false drug bust was scheduled to face trial this week, but the charges were dropped after the man’s public defender reviewed the video and alerted the prosecutor.

According to Fox Baltimore, the prosecutor told the defendant’s lawyer that they were “appalled” by the footage and dropped the case the next day.

But the Baltimore Sun is also reporting that the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office that was prosecuting the case offered the defendant a plea deal after reviewing the footage.

“We take allegations like this very seriously and that’s why we launched an internal investigation into the accusations," a spokesperson for the Baltimore Police said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "We are fortunate to have body-worn cameras which provide a perspective of the events as reported.”

BuzzFeed News has also reached out to the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office and the Baltimore public defender.

Baltimore police also issued a statement:

“We take allegations like this very seriously and that’s why we launched an internal investigation into the accusations. We are fortunate to have Body Worn Cameras which provide a perspective of the events as reported.”

Police would not say if the officer in question is on active duty while the internal investigation is underway.

A Louisiana man entrusted to protect the people in his community has resigned from his position after sharing a disgusting, threatening meme on Facebook.

Wayne Welsh, an assistant chief at the Estherwood Police Department, shared a post Sunday depicting a woman holding a young girl’s head under water in a bathtub, with the caption, “When your daughters [sic] first crush is a little negro boy.”

Social media users grabbed a screenshot of the officer’s post and it quickly went viral.

Welsh’s community was outraged, and though local media didn’t immediately release his identity, folks on the internet were happy to oblige:

Estherwood’s police chief, Ernest Villejoin, confirmed to HuffPost Wednesday that Welsh had resigned and said the “situation has been taken care of.” He told local media earlier this week that he was dumfounded when he saw the post.

“When I found out about it, I couldn’t believe I had to call him. I called him at work and asked him what the hell is going on,” Villejoin told local news outlet KADN. “He done it. He said it and he realized what he had done after he done it and he deleted it but it was too late.”

Welsh, whose Facebook page is now private, appeared to be surprised at the backlash before he apologized on Monday, according to KATC.

“It’s not against the law to share something on Facebook. It’s social media. Internet,” he posted, before backpedaling with an apology. “Well, I’m sorry for what happen. Yall have a blessed day.”

Estherwood City Hall immediately distanced itself from the situation, writing on Facebook Monday that it didn’t have control over employment at the police department.

Villejoin told HuffPost that he didn’t yet know who would take over Welsh’s position.

ST. LOUIS • The debate over police shootings of black men focuses on St. Louis this week as a former city police officer stands trial for the alleged premeditated murder of Anthony Lamar Smith nearly six years ago.

Jason Stockley, 36, is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Dec. 20, 2011, shooting death of Smith following a police chase stemming from a suspected drug deal. Smith, who lived in the 4800 block of Page Boulevard, was 24 at the time and the father of a 1-year-old daughter.

The rarity of an ex-cop on trial for murder could draw national attention following recent acquittals elsewhere of white police officers charged with killing black men. Opening statements in Stockley’s two-week trial begin Tuesday in front of St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson, who will decide the case because Stockley waived his right to a jury trial.

Self-defense issue

The main question for Wilson, a St. Louis circuit judge for 28 years, is whether Stockley feared for his life and justifiably defended himself by fatally shooting Smith.

“This is not an easy case,” Wilson wrote in his July 24 order granting a bench trial, which prosecutors opposed. “Whatever the ultimate outcome, it likely will be melancholy.”

Wilson, anticipating heightened public scrutiny of the trial, imposed a gag order on parties, lawyers and witnesses and also barred all cameras and electronics from the courtroom.

The case, reviewed by state and federal prosecutors in 2012, was dormant until last year when then-Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce charged Stockley, citing new evidence without identifying it but characterizing it as “forensic evidence and witness statements.” Joyce was in her 16th and final year as circuit attorney when she charged Stockley 21 months after the controversial police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson and amid mounting public pressure from activists and Smith’s supporters. In 2013, the St. Louis police board paid out a $900,000 civil settlement for Smith’s daughter.

Evidence at trial will include dramatic police dashboard video during a chase and bystander cellphone video moments after the shooting. There will also be DNA evidence from a gun found in Smith’s car, and testimony from police, witnesses and possibly Stockley himself.

A chase, crash, shooting

Stockley and his partner, Officer Brian Bianchi, spotted Smith in a suspected drug transaction in a Church’s Chicken parking lot at Thekla Avenue and Riverview Boulevard about 12:30 p.m. Smith led the officers on a mile-long chase at speeds that reached at least 87 mph through city neighborhoods before ending with a crash.

Police dashboard recordings and two videos from the restaurant show the officers pulled behind Smith’s rented silver Buick. As they got out, Smith backed into the police SUV and sped from the lot past Stockley, nearly knocking an AK-47 rifle from his hands. The rifle was his own, which the department has said he was not authorized to carry on duty. Stockley fired several shots from his duty pistol before he and Bianchi chased Smith with two in-car cameras rolling.

Stockley reported shots being fired and shouted directions over the police radio. He also says something about shooting Smith, which court records reveal as “Going to kill this (expletive), don’t you know it.”

At West Florissant and Acme avenues, Stockley was recorded telling Bianchi to ram the back of Smith’s car, which Bianchi does, triggering the Buick’s airbags. Both officers got out; Stockley carried both his AK-47 and department handgun. Stockley fired several pistol shots into the car, then put his rifle back into the police SUV.

According to police reports, Stockley has told Internal Affairs investigators and his sergeant, Colin Rumpsa, that he believed Smith was reaching for a revolver after being ordered to show him his hands. After shooting Smith, the videos showed Stockley return to the back seat and appear to dig through a duffel bag. He didn’t appear to have anything in his hands when he got out of the SUV and returned to Smith’s car. The video then stopped. Stockley’s lawyer has said Stockley was looking for a “clot pack” to stop Smith’s bleeding.

The video shows Stockley then climbing into the driver’s seat of the Buick immediately after Smith is pulled out. Police reports say Stockley’s DNA — but not Smith’s — was on the .38-caliber Taurus revolver police said was found in Smith’s car. Stockley told investigators he unloaded the revolver as a safety precaution after the shooting.

No jurors, one judge

Stockley served in the police department from Dec. 6, 2007, until he resigned Aug. 16, 2013. His home is in Houston but he has been free on bail and living with relatives in Illinois since shortly after he was charged in May 2016. The St. Louis Police Officers’ Association posted 10 percent of his $1 million bail.

Bianchi, who has served on the police force since May 6, 2010, has not been accused of a crime in Smith’s death. He initially was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony, but later lost immunity. He is a potential witness, but could invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Statements he made to Internal Affairs will be part of the evidence.

Stockley’s witness list includes Dr. Kris Mohandie, a former Los Angeles Police Department forensic psychologist who has participated in high-profile cases including the O.J. Simpson murder trial, to testify on “the psycho-physiological reactions before and after high stress encounters including the effects of stress on perception and reaction.”

Legal experts say jury and bench trials are similar except that bench trials tend to move faster because they eliminate the need to pick jurors, explain legal issues to them, escort them to and from court and provide them instructions of law. Bench trials can also eliminate the possibility of a hung jury.

Peter Joy, a Washington University law professor, said bench trials sometimes provide greater transparency because legal disputes are often argued in open court instead of away from jurors and spectators.

Bench trials inherently can be riskier for a defendant because the verdict is left for one person to decide. But Joy said Stockley must feel his chances of acquittal are better in the hands of an experienced judge, given the number of police shootings in St. Louis and the public attention given to them.

“In some parts of the city, the relations between the police and the community not being great,” Joy said, “it may be a little difficult to get a fair hearing with a jury in this case, so a judge might be better” for the defense.

Also unclear is whether Wilson will issue a verdict immediately at the close of evidence.

MAPLEWOOD — Township officials have suspended the police chief and requested that he immediately resign after recordings were released showing police being ordered to push black township youth into a neighboring city.

The Township Committee took the action Tuesday night more than a year after four teens were arrested following a Fourth of July celebration. Officers were accused of using excessive force and teens complained that cops had forced them to march out of town — complaints that were in part borne out last week after the township finally released video from police dashcams and recordings of police radio transmissions.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, an officer involved in the incident had already been suspended for 17 days after the department found that he violated rules on the use of force. Five other officers are facing “formal discipline for violating department rules and regulations.”

In a rebuke of their department’s leadership, the township mayor and committee members on Tuesday suspended Chief Robert Cimino with pay for 60 days and suspended Capt. Joshua Cummis with pay for 30 days.

The committee also unanimously passed a motion of no confidence in the chief and requested that he resign immediately.

Additionally, the township hired Chicago-based law enforcement consultant Hillard Heintze to review the department’s policies and training and gather input from the community.

Neither Cimino nor Cummis could be reached for comment late Tuesday night. Cimino earns a base salary of $175,520 and Cummis earns a base salary of $161,386.

Maplewood is one of the most diverse communities in the state. But Committeeman Frank McGehee on Tuesday said the township’s diversity belies the lack of trust residents have with local institutions like the police department.

“Black children … were herded like cattle out of Maplewood, a town that many of these children call home,” he said. “There is no greater message that you are not welcome than being driven out of your hometown simply because of the color of your skin. When did being black become a qualifying factor regarding residency in Maplewood?”

Mayor Victor DeLuca said officials were “appalled” by the use of force used against the teens. In video of the confrontation, groups of police officers are seen taking two young men to the ground and punching them.

“We want to set the record straight that this type of behavior is not going to be accepted in Maplewood and this police department is going to right themselves,” DeLuca said.

Committeewoman Nancy Adams slammed the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the police department’s internal affairs unit for taking an “inordinately long and, as far as I could tell, unnecessarily so” amount of time to investigate last year’s incident and release the tapes to township officials last month.

“We were appalled and disgusted by what we saw,” she said. “This is not the town I live in, this is not the town I believe in.”

Prosecutors in April declined to press criminal charges against any officers, including bringing bias charges against Cimino and Cummis.

This is the second time in as many years that a police chief in the state has come under fire over policing tactics that have been criticized as discriminatory.

Last year, Wyckoff’s police chief was demoted and forced to retire after the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office found that he had “explicitly” violated a state directive prohibiting racial profiling by instructing officers to profile black people in the Bergen County community.

Maplewood police officers last year said they had trouble disbursing large crowds of unruly teens and had to arrest four of them, including one they said spit on an officer.

But teens said police instigated confrontation and then sprayed the crowd when the teens tried to avoid walking into Irvington, which is predominantly black.

On the audio recordings released by the township, a voice identified by local news site The Village Green as Chief Cimmino, orders officers: “We’re going to send them east.”

A voice identified by the news site as Capt. Cummis says: “Notify Irvington they are going down Elmwood toward their town.”

Cummis then says: “Once they reach the Irvington border and they’re in Irvington, I want you to maintain our border…”

“Maplewood units, I want them to maintain, once they leave our town, maintain our border.”

Residents have pointed out that Irvington has a curfew for teenagers.

“All of those children who were being forced in that direction, if they crossed that border they were subject to being detained by the Irvington police,” Walter Fields, president of the South Orange/Maplewood Black Parents Workshop, told New Jersey 101.5 on Tuesday.

“Why weren’t white children and youth from Maplewood marched into neighboring Millburn after the fireworks? That’s why we believe this was clearly a case of racial profiling and we believe the department has to be held accountable.”

Trump 'Wall' To Become Border Fence Upgrade; USA Will Pay

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump's transition team are exploring whether they can make good on Trump's promise of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without passing a new bill on the topic, officials said Thursday.

Under the evolving plan, the Trump administration would rely on existing legislation authorizing fencing and other technology along the southern border. Congress would be asked to ensure that enough money is appropriated to take additional new steps — but would not pass a stand-alone bill authorizing a big new wall. CNN separately reported that Trump would ask Congress to appropriate US tax payer money to pay for the "wall".

The potential approach was confirmed by two congressional officials and a senior transition official with knowledge of the discussions; all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The officials emphasized that no final decisions had been made.

The approach could come as a surprise to some but could avoid a legislative fight Trump might lose if he tried to get Congress to pass a stand-alone bill authorizing the kind of border wall he promised during the campaign.

It's not clear how much could be done along the 2,000-mile border without additional actions by Congress. Lawmakers passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006, but most of those 700 miles have already been built. Some areas are in much better shape than others, though, and long stretches are made up of fencing that stops vehicles but not pedestrians.

But whatever steps might be taken without Congress' approval would be likely to fall short of the extravagant new wall on the border that Trump repeatedly said Mexico would pay for. And despite Congress' involvement in approving any spending, such an approach might also open Trump to charges of going around the House and the Senate to take unilateral actions, something he repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for doing. A spending bill including money for border construction could also provoke a legislative showdown given potential opposition from Senate Democrats.

Still, several lawmakers and congressional officials said the administration could have significant flexibility in taking additional steps without Congress' approval.

"There's a lot of things that can be done within current law," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., a longtime proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, though he emphasized that a lasting solution on immigration would take Congress. "You cannot minimize the potential impact of the administration doing what they can do under the law."

However, some immigration hard-liners have already expressed the desire to see Congress take a vote given how prominent the wall was during Trump's presidential campaign, and their desire to act on the issue.

Trump's vow to build an impenetrable, concrete wall along the southern border was his signature campaign proposal. "Build the wall!" supporters would chant at his rallies. "Who's going to pay for it?" Trump would ask them. "Mexico!" Trump often promised the wall would be built of hardened concrete, rebar and steel as tall as his venues' ceilings, and would feature a "big, beautiful door" to allow legal immigrants to enter.

Most experts viewed such promises as unrealistic and impractical, and Trump himself sometimes allowed that the wall would not need to span the entire length of the border, thanks to natural barriers like rivers. After winning the election, he said he'd be open to stretches of fencing.

Security footage from a local nightclub and a college dormitory has cleared a University of California student of rape.

Arman Premjee, 20, was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old fellow student in her dorm room after meeting at Banditos Taco & Tequila in Los Angeles on April 1.

However, the security footage showed her kissing Premjee, leading him out of the nightclub and making obscene sexual gestures.
...

The woman told detectives when questioned that she didn't remember anything from that night.

'She knew what she was doing. She was able to stand on her own two feet. She led the way,' Premjee said.

After seeing the video, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed the case on Tuesday saying: 'I believe there was consent. There is a very strong indication that the alleged victim in this case was the initiator.'

USC is reportedly conducting its own investigation and Premjee could still be expelled.

Colin Kaepernick explains protest of national anthem

SANTA CLARA, Ca. -- Forty Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick has willingly and knowingly immersed himself into controversy by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States.

His latest refusal to stand for the anthem -- he has done this in at least one other preseason game -- came before the 49ers preseason loss to Green Bay at Levi's Stadium.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game against Green Bay. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

The 49ers issued this statement: "The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem."

By taking a stand for civil rights, Kaepernick, 28, joins other athletes, like the NBA's Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony and several WNBA players in using their platform and status to raise awareness to issues affecting minorities in the U.S.

However, refusal to support the American flag as a means to take a stand has brought incredible backlash before and likely will in this instance. The NBA's Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of the Denver Nuggets, formerly Chris Jackson before converting to Islam, refused to acknowledge the flag in protest, citing similar reasons as Kaepernick and saying that it conflicted with some of his Islamic beliefs.

Abdul-Rauf drew the ire of fans and was briefly suspended by the NBA before a compromise was worked out between the league and player, who eventually stood with his teammates and coaches at the playing of the national anthem.

Kaepernick said that he is aware of what he is doing and that he knows it will not sit well with a lot of people, including the 49ers. He said that he did not inform the club or anyone affiliated with the team of his intentions to protest the national anthem.

"This is not something that I am going to run by anybody," he said. "I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. ... If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right."

Kaepernick said that he has thought about going public with his feelings for a while but that "I felt that I needed to understand the situation better."

He said that he has discussed his feelings with his family and, after months of witnessing some of the civil unrest in the U.S., decided to be more active and involved in rights for black people. Kaepernick, who is biracial, was adopted and raised by white parents and siblings.

Kaepernick's Twitter feed is filled with civil rights Tweets and messages.

The former Super Bowl starting quarterback's decision to go public comes while he is fighting for his football life with the 49ers, who drafted him in the second round in 2011. He lost his starting job last season after being one of the most promising players in the NFL during his run under former coach Jim Harbaugh.

Over the past few months, his relationship with management has turned sour. He requested a trade last spring, which never came to fruition. He also has spent most of the offseason rehabilitating from operations to his left (non-throwing) shoulder, his hand and knee. That left him unable to fully compete with Blaine Gabbert for months and now, just weeks before the regular season starts, has him seemingly in a bind to regain his starting job.

He made his preseason debut against the Packers and played for the second quarter, completing two of six passes for 14 yards. He looked as rusty as you'd expect from someone who has not played since last November.

Following the game and without any knowledge of Kaepernick's non-football behavior, coach Chip Kelly said that there has never been any discussion about cutting Kaepernick.