NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill. Photo-YouTube.
[Truth To Empower]
Did an NYPD sergeant attempt to kill an unarmed Brooklyn man, because they were both romantically linked to the same woman, then try to coverup his crime by lying that the victim tried to rob him?
As amazing as that may seem, this is the picture that is now emerging regarding Thursday’s early morning shooting in East New York.
Will the NYPD condone this type of criminal behavior, as it has routinely done in the past?
(The Black Star News has published several columns by the publisher Milton Allimadi about another ongoing case involving an alleged coverup of criminality by two NYPD officers James Wilfinger and Davinder Singh who have both been having sex with the wife of a Queens resident who claimed Wilfinger pulled a gun on him when he confronted him.
http://www.blackstarnews.com/ny-watch/crime/queens-man-who-accused-nypd-cop-of-raping-wife-doubts-his-allegations
http://www.blackstarnews.com/ny-watch/news/kris-gounden-the-106-precinct-the-queens-da-and-queens-criminal-court
http://www.blackstarnews.com/us-politics/justice/queens-da-hate-prosecution-case-accusers-video-supports-goundens
As a result of The Black Star News’ columns, two concocted NYPD criminal cases against Gounden, with the collaboration of prosecutors from Queens Richard Brown’s office, collapsed; one remains).
Last Thursday morning, around 5 a.m., off-duty Sergeant Ritchard Blake seriously wounded Thavone Santana—by shooting him, twice, in the face. Sergeant Blake, and the NYPD, first told the cover story that Santana had tried to rob Blake. But this was another lie, in a long list of concoctions police often tell us when they are trying to coverup cop crimes.
Another motive for Sergeant Blake’s unjustified shooting of Santana is now being uncovered: they were both apparently involved with the same woman. Unfortunately, for Sergeant Blake, and the NYPD, as is so often the case these days, video evidence refuted their lies about why Blake shot this unarmed Black man. Sergeant Blake is also Black.
Surveillance video shows Santana being shot, while both men were in an argument. That video also shows Sergeant Blake dropping a metal object, at the crime scene—before picking it back up. It seems clear Sergeant Blake was trying to stage the crime scene in his favor. The NYPD admitted the video raises “serious questions” in their statement which reads: “This remains an open and fluid investigation, and the NYPD is coordinating closely with the Kings County District Attorney’s office. Video of the incident has been recovered and is under review. The video captures actions that raise serious questions, and require further investigation. Recovered video is being shared with the Kings County DA. The member of service involved in this incident remains on modified duty.”
Reportedly, Sergeant Blake told NYPD brass Santana was a stranger to him. This seems to be another lie. According to a family representative, the two men had been fighting over a woman for weeks. Did Blake attempt to kill Santana, over a woman—calculating he could get away with it because he is a police officer with a “license to kill?”
New York State Assemblyman Charles Barron called the shooting “attempted murder” and accused the NYPD of a “coverup,” as he stood with the victim’s mother, Arrie Spencer, outside the Brooklyn D.A.’s Office. “First of all, this mother here was violated by those that we pay to protect us, shot her son in the face, twice. This was an attempted murder, attempted murder, of a person who was unarmed,” said Barron.
“The police initially lied, they tried to cover it up, and say it was a robbery, they say he had a knife. He had shorts on, no weapon, no robbery, and this mother was violated, her son has a civil right to walk peacefully through his community without some maniac, fool, out of his mind, trying to murder him. When you take your gun out on an unarmed person and you deliberately point it in their face, and pull that trigger twice, you are attempting to murder somebody.”
Assemblyman Barron is correct in everything he said. Unfortunately, Black people are not allowed “to walk peacefully” through their communities, flooded with police officers, whose main jobs are: to harass and criminalize, not to “protect and serve.” Some Black officers, like Sergeant Blake, are just as bad, and criminal, in their actions against Blacks.
This case is unique because of the motive now being undressed: a possible love triangle. Did Sergeant Blake shoot Mr. Santana because he saw this as an easy way to rid himself of a man who was competing with him for the affections of a woman? Sergeant Blake would certainly not be the first man who attempted to murder a rival over a woman.
But shouldn’t the public expect better behavior from NYPD’s “finest?”
Sergeant Blake’s lies in this matter have already painted him in a guilty light. Why did he lie by claiming Santana tried to rob him? Why did he say Santana was a stranger? Why did he, initially, drop a metal object at the scene of the crime?
Was that metal object supposed to be the weapon Santana would’ve been accused of attacking Blake with? Many of us have heard stories about “throwaway weapons” also called a “cop’s insurance policy.”
In the Walter Scott case, Officer Michael Slager was recorded throwing a Taser next to Scott’s body to buttress his false fable of being attacked by Scott. Isn’t it clear enough a similar scenario entered Sergeant Scott’s mind when he dropped that metal object by Santana?
Another troubling aspect of this latest case is: the accusation that Blake “has a long rap sheet.”
Police often like to use the he “has a long rap sheet” tactic when they are trying to impugn the character of a particular “perp.” But what about when the “perp” is a police officer?
Sergeant Blake was already on probation for his arrest two years ago, in a domestic dispute incident involving his girlfriend, who Blake reportedly punched in the face. Blake was given a mere 36-day suspension and placed on dismissal probation, last September. Under the dismissal probation Sergeant Blake can be fired for any reason within the one-year probation period, which ends next month.
That arrest should now be examined deeper given Sergeant Blake’s involvement in this crime. This would be a great time for the NYPD to engage in transparency—instead of typical secrecy. At Friday’s news conference, Reverend Kevin McCall, of the National Action Network, said Sergeant Blake “has a long rap sheet.” Shouldn’t the NYPD be required to tell us all about Sergeant Blake’s “long rap sheet,” especially now that he’s shot an unarmed civilian because of a beef over a woman?
One issue in this case is connected to another rampant problem within the institution of the police that is screaming for attention: the high rate of domestic abuse among police. Many people know of the domestic abuse problems among NFL players. However, most of those same people may indeed be horrified to find out that domestic abuse is worse among police officers. Domestic abuse, like many things that are wrong within cop culture, is being ignored by our responsible political leaders.
According to the National Center for Women and Policing, “Two studies have found that at least 40 percent of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10 percent of families in the general population. A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24 percent, indicating that domestic violence is two to four times more common among police families than American families in general.”
Police also, apparently, “typically handle cases of police family violence informally, often without an official report, investigation, or even check of the victim’s safety…This ‘informal’ method is often in direct contradiction to legislative mandates and departmental policies regarding the appropriate response to domestic violence crimes.” Moreover, “even officers who are found guilty of domestic violence are unlikely to be fired, arrested, or referred for prosecution.”
Indeed, we should ask this question: shouldn’t there be “zero tolerance” for cops who are domestic abusers? In the current social climate, of the Me-Too Movement, those who engage in sexual misbehavior and violence are being exposed and crucified. Why should cops, like Sergeant Blake, who’ve been credibly shown to be domestic abusers—who engage in assault—be allowed to remain as police officers? Shouldn’t we expect those who would assault their own family to assault regular citizens?
The only silver lining, in this case is Mr. Santana is still alive—even though Sergeant Blake seemed intent on killing him.
Given the facts here, Sergeant Blake should’ve been fired already.
