Tweet
U.S. sued over unarmed mom's D.C. killing
Family seeking $75 million after woman shot dead by federal agents
WND
Garth Kant
1/30/2014
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — The family of the young, unarmed woman shot to death by federal agents in the shadow of the Capitol will file a $75 million lawsuit against the U.S. government, WND has learned.
Attorney Eric Sanders informed WND he has filed the multi-million dollar claim against the U.S., the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police for “numerous intentional, grossly negligent and reckless actions of police officers, supervisors, managers and other related employees.”
Miriam Carey was shot to death Oct. 3, 2013, by federal officers after a car chase that began at the White House and ended about a block from the Capitol.
Sanders said that after months of waiting for the release of the official investigation and after an exhaustive review of all publicly available data, the Carey family has concluded the shooting was not justified.
No one has been charged in the deadly shooting of the 34-year-old mother and dental hygienist from Connecticut.
The suit maintains Carey was still alive after she was shot numerous times by officers then taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Carey was mortally wounded by gunfire during the chase, according to the suit. But out of panic, she continued driving until she finally came to a stop and was taken from her car, a few blocks away from the initial shooting.
The suit said the incident began because Carey “mistakenly drove past the first guard post at the White House entrance because the entrance was negligently maintained, covered and supervised by police officers, supervisors, managers” and others, and then tried to make a lawful U-turn to leave.
However, according to the claim, “for some inexplicable reason,” instead of simply allowing Carey to leave, a police officer “without provocation or legal justification, inconsistent with his or her police training, negligently and recklessly threw a bicycle rack at the vehicle, striking it.”
The suit goes on to maintain that Carey had not violated any law, and, therefore, police had “no legal basis to stop her or use any amount of physical force against her.”
Sanders claims it is officers who endangered Carey’s safety, not the other way around. He contends the ensuing car chase also endangered the public, outweighing “the benefit of investigating a harmless mistaken entrance through the White House entrance gate.”
The Carey family’s attorney said the young mother loved life, and her greatest joy was spending time with her child, family and friends.
Sanders has filed the wrongful death claim on behalf of Carey’s mother, Idealla, Carey’s estate and her 1-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the car during the chase and, apparently, during the shooting. The suit will seek $25 million for each claimant.
Sanders said the suit is to compensate the family for their “great loss of a daughter, mother, friend and confidant.” But he insists the case is about more than the death of just one woman. He says it represents a threat to the rights of all Americans.
“Somehow, the Bill of Rights did not apply to Miriam. Miriam’s life did not seem to be so important. Thus far, Miriam’s death is being treated as simple collateral damage in the government’s zeal to protect itself from terrorism,” said Sanders.
He said that zeal should not eclipse the importance of human life.
“The framers of the United States Constitution fought for, died for and demanded it. We should expect no different in today’s society either,” he said.
Sanders, a former New York Police Department officer, has told WND numerous reasons why he insists officers should never have shot at Carey.
...........................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/u-s-sued-...s-d-c-killing/
Family seeking $75 million after woman shot dead by federal agents
WND
Garth Kant
1/30/2014
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — The family of the young, unarmed woman shot to death by federal agents in the shadow of the Capitol will file a $75 million lawsuit against the U.S. government, WND has learned.
Attorney Eric Sanders informed WND he has filed the multi-million dollar claim against the U.S., the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police for “numerous intentional, grossly negligent and reckless actions of police officers, supervisors, managers and other related employees.”
Miriam Carey was shot to death Oct. 3, 2013, by federal officers after a car chase that began at the White House and ended about a block from the Capitol.
Sanders said that after months of waiting for the release of the official investigation and after an exhaustive review of all publicly available data, the Carey family has concluded the shooting was not justified.
No one has been charged in the deadly shooting of the 34-year-old mother and dental hygienist from Connecticut.
The suit maintains Carey was still alive after she was shot numerous times by officers then taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Carey was mortally wounded by gunfire during the chase, according to the suit. But out of panic, she continued driving until she finally came to a stop and was taken from her car, a few blocks away from the initial shooting.
The suit said the incident began because Carey “mistakenly drove past the first guard post at the White House entrance because the entrance was negligently maintained, covered and supervised by police officers, supervisors, managers” and others, and then tried to make a lawful U-turn to leave.
However, according to the claim, “for some inexplicable reason,” instead of simply allowing Carey to leave, a police officer “without provocation or legal justification, inconsistent with his or her police training, negligently and recklessly threw a bicycle rack at the vehicle, striking it.”
The suit goes on to maintain that Carey had not violated any law, and, therefore, police had “no legal basis to stop her or use any amount of physical force against her.”
Sanders claims it is officers who endangered Carey’s safety, not the other way around. He contends the ensuing car chase also endangered the public, outweighing “the benefit of investigating a harmless mistaken entrance through the White House entrance gate.”
The Carey family’s attorney said the young mother loved life, and her greatest joy was spending time with her child, family and friends.
Sanders has filed the wrongful death claim on behalf of Carey’s mother, Idealla, Carey’s estate and her 1-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the car during the chase and, apparently, during the shooting. The suit will seek $25 million for each claimant.
Sanders said the suit is to compensate the family for their “great loss of a daughter, mother, friend and confidant.” But he insists the case is about more than the death of just one woman. He says it represents a threat to the rights of all Americans.
“Somehow, the Bill of Rights did not apply to Miriam. Miriam’s life did not seem to be so important. Thus far, Miriam’s death is being treated as simple collateral damage in the government’s zeal to protect itself from terrorism,” said Sanders.
He said that zeal should not eclipse the importance of human life.
“The framers of the United States Constitution fought for, died for and demanded it. We should expect no different in today’s society either,” he said.
Sanders, a former New York Police Department officer, has told WND numerous reasons why he insists officers should never have shot at Carey.
- Media reports claimed Carey tried to ram a White House gate or barrier with her car, but the initial police report did not mention an attempt to ram anything;
- The police report said Carey tried to make a U-turn after arriving at a White House checkpoint;
- She apparently broke no laws until fleeing after being confronted by heavily armed guards;
- Police justified the shooting out of fear Carey might be a terrorist, but Sanders pointed out, if officers feared Carey had a bomb, that would be reason not to shoot at her;
- Additionally, WND found information that officers would have known within minutes that Carey was not a terrorism threat;
- Sanders and law enforcement experts also told WND that the policy of most major police departments is to never shoot at moving vehicles;
- Non-lethal means, such as tire spikes, apparently were not used to try to stop the car.
- Non-lethal means, such as pepper spray or a Taser, apparently were not used to subdue Carey before officers shot her to death;
- Video showed officers shooting at Carey in a crowded public space at least seven times after officers inexplicably failed to block her car at a traffic circle.
...........................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/u-s-sued-...s-d-c-killing/