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BOSSIP has covered hundreds of incidents of police brutality over the years including, kidnappings, sexual assaults, beatings, planting evidence, and cold-blooded murder. The following story is one of the most egregious and raises questions and concerns about the wanton use of excessive force.
On March 21, 26-year-old Dexter Reed was pulled over by Chicago Police Department officers in plainclothes for not wearing his seatbelt according to an AP News report. Let the cops tell it, things spiraled when Reed refused to comply with an officer’s commands. The preliminary police investigation states that Reed opened fire and the officers returned fire to the tune of 96 rounds with one officer firing 50 of them even after Reed was lying on the ground motionless.
Sounds like the textbook definition of “excessive” if you ask us and it sounds eerily similar to the way Chicago cops killed Laquan McDonald.
The body camera video from the Reed traffic stop has been released to the public.
Warning: This video can be disturbing to some viewers. Please consider your mental health before watching.
Dexter’s sister, Porscha Banks, and his mother, Nicole Banks, recently spoke to CNN in an emotional interview about the horror of their loss.
The Chicago Office of Police Accountability (COPA) wrote a letter to Police Superintendent Larry Snelling citing “grave concerns” about how this group of trigger-happy cops behaved and how their actions posed a threat to the community.
Via AP News:
“Based on the totality of the available evidence, COPA has grave concerns about the officers’ ability to assess what is a necessary, reasonable, and proportional use of deadly force,” COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten wrote in an April 1 letter obtained through a records request.
All the officers involved are on 30-day administrative leave while COPA and the Cook County state’s attorney conduct an investigation. Activists and experts in police protocol are questioning whether or not officers could even see that Reed wasn’t wearing his seatbelt as his windows were very darkly tinted. Moreover, why area group of plainclothes officers so concerned with a minor seatbelt violation?
Lots of questions with very few answers at this time but we will be watching this case closely and will provide updates as they become available. It’s
