Headlines
US white cop acquitted in killing of black couple
Washington, May 24
A police officer in
Cleveland, Ohio, was acquitted by a judge for the shooting deaths of two
unarmed suspects, both black, after police chased the victims' car on
November 2012.
After a four-week trial, Judge John P. O'Donnell
on Saturday handed down the verdict in the case against white policeman
Michael Brelo, 31, for the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa
Williams.
On Novvember 29, 2012, several Cleveland police
officers heard the noise coming from Russell's car as it drove by - the
sound was probably a backfire but they thought it was a gunshot and set
off in pursuit of it.
Involved in the chase were more than 100
cops who fired a total of 137 shots at the car that Russell, 43, and
Williams, 30, were driving in, according to the investigation.
Brelo
was one of those policemen and, according to prosecutors in the case,
when the vehicle had been stopped and was surrounded, he jumped on the
hood and fired at least another 15 shots through the windshield at the
two suspects, who were unarmed.
After learning of his acquittal,
Brelo broke into tears before the judge, and soon afterwards dozens of
people began to gather in the streets of Cleveland to protest the
verdict.
The US Justice Department and the FBI later announced that they will review the case.
The
head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Vanita
Gupta, said in a communique that "we will now review the testimony and
evidence presented in the state trial."
"We will continue our assessment, review all available legal options," she said.