Brave judge.
Via Fox News:
Cleveland cop cleared Saturday on state charges in the deaths of two unarmed people in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire could face federal charges.
The Justice Department said after the acquittal of Officer Michael Brelo’s on voluntary manslaughter charges that it would “review all available legal options.”
“We will now review the testimony and evidence presented in the state trial” to determine if “additional steps are available and appropriate,” the department said.
Vanita Gupta, head of the department’s civil rights division said the review is separate from its efforts to resolve a pattern of civil rights violations at the Cleveland police department. A report in December outlined a string of examples of excessive force, including officers who unnecessarily fired guns, hit suspects in the head with weapons, and punched and used Tasers on people already handcuffed.
An Ohio judge said he could not determine Brelo alone fired the fatal shots that killed the occupants of a car at the end of a police chase.
Brelo, 31, put his head in hands as the judge issued a verdict that prompted an angry protest outside the courthouse, including chants of “Hands up! Don’t Shoot!”
The acquittal came at a time of nationwide tension among police and black citizens punctuated by protests over deaths of blacks at the hands of white officers — and following a determination by the U.S. Department of Justice that city police had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.
Before issuing his verdict, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John O’Donnell noted the recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore over the deaths of black suspects but said he would not “sacrifice” Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction.