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Utopia Talk / Politics / More white cop (in)justice
murder
Member
Tue Nov 23 19:20:11
A White Cop Who Helped Assault A Black Colleague Was Given A Lighter Sentence Than He’d Asked For

David Mack

Tue, November 23, 2021

A federal judge gave a white former St. Louis police officer less than half the prison time his own defense lawyers had asked for on Monday after he was convicted for his role in the beating of an undercover Black colleague during the 2017 racial justice protests in the city.

Dustin Boone, 37, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for aiding and abetting the deprivation of civil rights under color of law of undercover officer Luther Hall. He was convicted in June after a nine-day trial.

Prosecutors had asked that Boone be imprisoned for 10 years; his own defense team had asked for just over two years.

By sentencing Hall to one day over the one-year sentence, US District Judge E. Richard Webber ensured the former police officer will also be eligible to have time taken off his sentence for good behavior.

The light sentence prompted Hall and his stunned supporters to walk out of the courtroom in disgust, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The incident occurred during weeks of protests in St. Louis prompted by the acquittal of another former police officer, Jason Stockley, over the 2011 fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.

On the evening of Sept. 17, 2017, Hall had been undercover when he was pinned to the ground by Boone and beaten with a baton by a third officer, Randy Hays, who both mistook Hall for a protester.

The beating left Hall, who had not violated any laws and was not resisting arrest, with permanent injuries and pain, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. (He subsequently reached a $5 million settlement with the department.)

Prosecutors released evidence showing Boone had been "showing off" for his girlfriend by livestreaming his actions to her via a FaceTime video call.

She had texted him that viewing the footage was "SOOOOOO COOL," but after learning days later that he had assaulted a fellow officer, he wrote to her saying, "Nothing about that story to anyone please. Not something I am proud of."

Prosecutors also released text messages Boone had written to other officers prior to the beating in which he appeared to relish the opportunity to violently squash the protests.

"But it's gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of these shitheads once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart," he wrote in one message.

They also released evidence showing that months before, Boone had used the n-word in a text with another officer, and that he had previously boasted about being violent with people he had arrested.

The government had asked for a 10-year prison sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense and deter criminal conduct by officers.

"Our society has delegated the use of appropriate force to our law enforcement officers," prosecutors wrote. "The vast majority of police officers take this responsibility seriously. Defendant did not."

Boone's defense attorneys argued he did not initiate the attack on Hall, nor strike him, but instead kneeled on Hall's back and used his hands to hold down the undercover officer's neck.

They said Boone "fell prey to a police culture of excessive force that permeated his own department," but that he should be judged for his individual actions and not made a "sacrificial lamb" for every police officer.

The defense attorneys admitted Boone's texts were "repugnant" and "offensive," but included statements from friends and family that the officer was "not a racist."

In response to that defense, prosecutors released racist text messages between Boone and his family to argue that "they shared his sentiments."

The text messages showed Boone's father, mother, and sister comparing the Black protesters to monkeys, using the word "niglets," and saying the demonstrators were banging drums as if "they were back in Africa doing a rain dance."

"The family's contention that the texts do not reflect the 'real' defendant are contradicted by their own offensive texts," prosecutors wrote.

In his sentencing, Webber said he believed officers had used unreasonable force on Hall because he is Black, but said Boone was not one of the officers who beat or kicked him, according to the Post-Dispatch.

In July, Webber sentenced Hays, the former officer who struck Hall with the baton, to just over four years in prison.

Webber sentenced a third former officer, Bailey Colletta, to three years of probation and two consecutive weekends in prison for lying to a grand jury about the incident.

One of the attorneys representing Hall, the victim, told BuzzFeed News he was not yet ready to speak with media.

But before Boone was sentenced, Hall told Webber he believed the prior two sentences demonstrated "leniency that’s not shown to African American defendants."

"You’ve increased that racial divide in the city," Hall told the judge.

http://www...ite-cop-lighter-220920990.html

murder
Member
Tue Nov 23 19:22:48

"A federal judge gave a white former St. Louis police officer less than half the prison time his own defense lawyers had asked for ..."

It's good to be white in America.

Rugian
Member
Tue Nov 23 19:29:31
As is the usual case with these "black people have it SO bad in America" stories, the relevant facts are near the bottom of the article:

"In his sentencing, Webber said he believed officers had used unreasonable force on Hall because he is [b]lack, but said Boone was not one of the officers who beat or kicked him, according to the Post-Dispatch.

In July, Webber sentenced Hays, the former officer who struck Hall with the baton, to just over four years in prison.

Webber sentenced a third former officer, Bailey Colletta, to three years of probation and two consecutive weekends in prison for lying to a grand jury about the incident."
murder
Member
Tue Nov 23 19:37:56

I'm not sure how you think that makes any of this any better.

Rugian
Member
Tue Nov 23 20:08:24
I think the sentences fit the crimes.

You're the one who thinks that unrelated monkey texts should make what he did an automatic 20.

Its safe to say that you may not be entirely reasonable here.
murder
Member
Tue Nov 23 20:11:09

I think it's safe to say that judges sentencing convicts to less than half the time requested by the defense is ... rare.

Habebe
Member
Tue Nov 23 20:34:42
I don't know if the sentence was just or not.

But this guy should not be a police officer.Too many of these kinds of people are attracted to the profession.

That said saying nigger lone shouldn't be a reason to fire them.Neither for saying cracker or redneck.

Blacks tending to be extra sensitive to being called names shouldn't be coddled.
murder
Member
Wed Nov 24 07:18:14

There's no equivalent between cracker, redneck, and nigger. Niggers were victimized for hundreds of years. They were dehumanized, enslaved, murdered, beaten, raped, and had their kids sold off to suffer the same fate. Crackers and rednecks were the victimizers.

murder
Member
Wed Nov 24 08:37:12

btw this thread had nothing to do with whether the sentence was just or not. It was not. I will address that a little in the next post. This thread is about the justice system being tilted in favor of some.

This cop literally had 2 defense attorneys. His attorney and the judge. The judge literally stepped in and decided that the cops attorney was doing a poor job of representing his client, so he took over himself.

murder
Member
Wed Nov 24 08:51:29

Was it a just sentence? This cop was involved in a racist arrest that turned violent. The black undercover cop was not committing a crime ... he was simply black and there.

That's not just one crime, that's 2 crimes.

The cop then instructed a witness to remain silent ... which is exactly the opposite of his job.

That's 3 crimes.

He admitted before hand that he intended to abuse his authority to assault protesters.


---------------------

"But it's gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of these shitheads once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart," he wrote in one message.

---------------------


But this cop didn't actually beat the guy ... he just held him down while he was being beaten.

Did he enforce the law and arrest the cop that did beat the guy? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!


Was 1 year and 1 day a just sentence? GTFO!

Habebe
Member
Wed Nov 24 09:59:20
There is no equivelant to nigger because people like Jesse Jackson throw a fit.

How crazy is it that only one word is so super bad thatnits worsenthan all others. Those who are so offended by it are coddled.

Boohoo they called me a name.

"Niggers were victimized for hundreds of years. They were dehumanized, enslaved, murdered, beaten, raped, and had their kids sold off to suffer the same fate. Crackers and rednecks were the victimizers."

Who sold them these niggers?

How many French and Germans had been enslaved by Persians or Romans?

How about Asians? The railroads didnt build themselves.

People suffer.Its literally an underlying law of life.To live is to suffer.

Now this cop sounds like an asshole.The violent tendency is more damning than him gettinf caught saying nigger.

Chappelle says Nigger all the time.
murder
Member
Wed Nov 24 10:16:51

"How crazy is it that only one word is so super bad"

I'll tell you what ... we can enslave white people for a few hundred years, then we can all agree that "nigger" isn't any worse than some random insult.

Deal?

nhill
Member
Wed Nov 24 10:46:12
The word nigger was the last thing thousands of black people heard before they were lynched, and the word was used to dehumanize an entire race so people didn't feel guilty about treating them like dirt.

There is no equivalent, and nobody should be using that word out of respect for the gross mistreatment it symbolizes. The people that use that word, regardless of color, are uncivilized swine.
Habebe
Member
Thu Dec 09 23:09:14
Murder, White people were enslaved for thousands of years...
Habebe
Member
Sat Dec 11 00:27:40
Also, I may have been a bit harsh earlier.I forget what at now, but I was pretty pissed off on that earlier post.
Forwyn
Member
Sat Dec 11 09:07:38
"It's good to be white in America."

Good to be a cop. Imagine if the victim hadn't been.
Rugian
Member
Sat Dec 11 09:10:10
The implied flip side to that statement is that its not good to be black or Hispanic in America.

That's just false. Its good to be any race in America, period.
murder
Member
Sat Dec 11 10:13:15

"Good to be a cop. Imagine if the victim hadn't been."

He'd be sitting in prison, probably for assaulting the cops baton, while the perps walked free.

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