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Tennessee family's lawsuit says video long kept from them shows police force, not drugs, killed son (apnews.com)

submitted 5 months ago by fpslem to c/tennessee

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/27137940

A mother whose son was having a seizure in his Tennessee apartment said in a federal lawsuit that police and paramedics subjected the 23-year-old to “inhumane acts of violence” instead of treating him, then covered up their use of deadly force.

The death of Austin Hunter Turner was one of more than 1,000 nationally that an investigation led by The Associated Press identified as happening after police officers used physical force or weapons that were supposed to stop, but not kill, people.

The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court, came after AP reporters shared police body-camera video they had unearthed with Turner’s parents, who didn’t know it existed. That footage made the family doubt the official conclusion that a drug overdose killed their son.

Citing the AP’s reporting and many of the details it disclosed, the lawsuit focused on how officers’ own video contradicted the police version of what happened inside Turner’s small apartment in the northeastern Tennessee city of Bristol.

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[–] halcyoncmdr 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If video evidence contradicts officer testimony that entire testimony should be thrown out at minimum. Depending on how egregious the discrepancy it should also result in dismissal and possible prosecution. Since officer testimony can be used in court as is, it should also count as perjury, with mandatory maximum sentencing. They're supposed to know better than that, isn't that what they always want to try and claim?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sadly the recruiting process and "leadership" don't really promote such responsibility.

[–] whostosay 1 points 5 months ago

Don't stop there. The entire system fosters fucked up behavior. Make 20 of these fuckers accountable in a few days all at once, let it hit the news and watch police crime take a dive. They do it because they KNOW there isn't consequence.