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GENERAL => GENERAL FORUM => Topic started by: News on August 21, 2014, 10:32:39 AM



Title: Powell shooting in St. Louis captured on cell phone camera
Post by: News on August 21, 2014, 10:32:39 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0lYWZ_stA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi0lYWZ_stA)

New Video Emerges of Police Shooting Kajieme Powell in St. Louis

By Taylor Wofford
Filed: 8/20/14 at 11:47 PM


The video shows that police told Powell to remove his hand from his pocket, which he did. Police said Powell held a knife in his hand, though it is unclear from the video if Powell actually brandished the knife at the officers. The owner of the convenience store from which Powell allegedly shoplifted told police he had a weapon, a claim corroborated by the owner of a nearby barber shop who called 911 about Powell, according to 911 calls obtained by St. Louis Public Radio.

Powell approached them, shouting, "Shoot me! Shoot me, already!" As Powell continued to approach them, the officers shot and killed him.

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http://www.newsweek.com/new-video-police-shooting-2nd-man-st-louis-emerges-266041 (http://www.newsweek.com/new-video-police-shooting-2nd-man-st-louis-emerges-266041)


Video of St. Louis police shooting raises questions about officers’ story

Video released by the St. Louis Police of the August 19 shooting of 25-year-old Kajieme Powell, just miles away from the protests in Ferguson, raises questions about whether events transpired as police initially claimed.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson had told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Powell "pulled out a knife and came at the officers, gripping and holding it high," yelling "Shoot me now, kill me now." Police said he was shot when he was "two or three feet" away from the officers.

The newly released video begins before police arrive on the scene. A bystander has followed Powell after he took energy drinks and muffins from a market without paying for them, and can be heard chuckling over Powell's erratic behavior. Powell is seen slowly pacing around the scene of the eventual shooting before police arrive. When the officers enter and draw their guns, Powell ignores warnings to put down his knife, and advances on them. He then repeatedly yells, "Shoot me!"

But Powell does not appear to be holding a knife high, and he looks to be walking normally — and to be further than two or three feet from the officers — when they open fire, killing him.

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http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6051431/did-the-st-louis-police-have-to-shoot-kajieme-powell (http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6051431/did-the-st-louis-police-have-to-shoot-kajieme-powell)


Did the St. Louis police have to shoot Kajieme Powell?

By Ezra Klein
August 20, 2014


We may never really know what happened in the three minutes between when Michael Brown was stopped for jaywalking and when he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.

But we do know what happened on Tuesday during the 23 seconds between when St. Louis police arrived and when 25-year-old Kajieme Powell was shot and killed on Riverview Blvd. We know because police released the video. Powell walks around the sidewalk and a small grass embankment. He ignores police warnings to drop his knife. He advances on police at a normal speed, his arms swinging at his sides. And he is shot nine times, including while on the ground.

The footage is horrifying to watch, in part for the speed with which it turns from comic to tragic. It begins with a man chuckling over Powell's erratic — but seemingly harmless — behavior. Seconds later, Powell is dead.

Continue...
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6051431/did-the-st-louis-police-have-to-shoot-kajieme-powell (http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6051431/did-the-st-louis-police-have-to-shoot-kajieme-powell)