Saturday, December 05, 2015

Miami Beach Police Execute Attempted Bank Robber On Busy City Street

Those familiar with Alton Road near 16th Street in Miami Beach know it's a pretty busy street. The famed Art Basel exhibition was taking place a short distance from this location when police responded this morning to a call of an attempted bank robbery at a Bank of America branch bank. The suspect left the bank without any money after handing a note to a teller saying he was armed with a bomb. By the time police arrived, the suspect had entered a nearby barber shop where he was causing a commotion. He grabbed a straight edge razor before exiting the barber shop at the command of the police officers. Surrounded by several police officers, he was gunned down and killed when he failed to drop the razor he was holding, although he didn't appear to pose any immediate threat to the police. One eyewitness captured the shooting on a cell phone and uploaded it to YouTube. Another eyewitness, Sylvia Rodriguez, complained that the police officer who shot the suspect flashed a "slight smile" to the other officers before giving them the thumbs up. The guy obviously suffered from mental health problems. The streets of Miami Beach are littered with homeless men, a lot of whom are disabled veterans.

UPDATE: It appears on further review and from other news reports that one of the police officers fired his Taser at the victim right before the officer holding the assault weapon finished him off with two bullets. The officer on the sidewalk appears to be holding the Taser that was fired at the victim.
The weapon held by victim when police shot him

Here's a longer video with a better view of the shooting, which clearly shows the victim was first hit by a Taser fired by one of the officers before the second officer shot him twice.

19 comments:

Flogger said...

There is another video out of the Police in San Francisco in a virtual firing squad executing Mario Woods. The this from Chicago -

Chicago's cover-up scandal is deepening after city officials were forced to release additional surveillance footage of the deadly shooting of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald by a white officer—and it showed an unexplained 80-minute gap covering the time the teenager was killed.

The missing footage aligns with the account of Jay Darshane, the manager of the Burger King that is located roughly 50 yards from the killing, who told a grand jury in November that police tampered with the restaurant's surveillance system, erasing roughly 86 minutes of footage. In addition, the manager told the Chicago Tribune that the FBI confiscated the restaurant's surveillance images. In the part of the footage that immediately follows the gap, a police officer wearing a bullet-proof vest can be seen sitting at a computer in the back of the Burger King while another walks around.

John Kass of the Chicago Tribune writes: Top cop thought Emanuel had his back, until the mayor lopped off his head. This should be no surprise to anyone. I called it weeks ago. City Hall protects the Queen Bee to keep the honey flowing. It isn't personal. It's business.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Imagine if the Laquan McDonald video had been released prior to this year's primary election in Chicago. Rahm may not have been re-elected. This is the first story during his horrible tenure that has truly changed people's opinions of him.

Anonymous said...

After watching the video, and saw the Rodney King video and read the trial transcripts,
there is a term called level of enforcement, looks like the Miami Beach Police took the level to the top, which is lethal force!
Two years ago, they did the same thing to a suspected drug dealer.
If the Miami Beach had X-26 Tasers, that would have been the level of enforcement.

Anonymous said...

9:04 so instead of shooting potentially innocent people, you'd rather have the pigs electrocute people? Don't tell me that tasers are non-lethal. That's bullcrap. Monroe County had a sadistic jailer that used a taser on an accused criminal and killed him by electrocution.

Anonymous said...

Its easy to arm chair quarterback when its not your ass out there dealing with someone with a knife.

Anonymous said...

1033...personal responsibility is dead in this country. That guy doesnt have to follow those officers commands and surrender. Those cops were suppose to look in their patrol crystal balls and know that a guy who just threatened a bank with a bomb just days after a terrorist attack was only a little crazy. The great thing is that police depts are always taking apps...maybe some of those critics will grab one...its such an easy job...

Downtown Indy said...

Well, he won't be robbing any more banks. That's a plus.

Gary R. Welsh said...

He didn't rob the bank. He had no weapon at that point. The teller called police after he left the bank without any money.

Flogger said...

I agree Rahm would not probably not have been re-elected if the video and the cover -up were known before the election.

A little back ground on Rahm per WIKI - At the start of then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign, Emanuel was appointed to direct the campaign's finance committee. While working on the Clinton campaign Emanuel was a paid retainer of the investment bank Goldman Sachs. (Side Bar - Hillary Clinton has received from Goldman Sachs $760,740 in campaign donations - The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families.)

Following the campaign, Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and joined the investment banking firm Wasserstein Perella, where he worked for 2 1/2 years. Although he did not have an MBA degree or prior banking experience, he became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999, and according to Congressional disclosures, made $16.2 million in his two-and-a-half-years as a banker.

Emanuel declared in April 2006 that he would support Hillary Rodham Clinton should she pursue the presidency in 2008. Emanuel remained close to Clinton since leaving the White House, talking strategy with her at least once a month as chairman of the DCCC.

Emanuel's loyalties came into conflict when his home-state Senator, Barack Obama, expressed interest in the race. Asked in January 2007, about his stance on the Democratic presidential nomination, he said: "I'm hiding under the desk. I'm very far under the desk, and I'm bringing my paper and my phone." Emanuel remained neutral in the race until June 4, 2008, the day after the final primary contests, when he endorsed Obama.

Rahm went back to the White House after Obama was elected in 2008, and Hillary became S.O.S.
>> SO the below fits in nicely (My Comment)

Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac by President Clinton in 2000. He earned at least $320,000 during his time there, including later stock sales. During Emanuel's time on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities. The Obama Administration rejected a request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director.

Emanuel rejected Freedom of Information Act requests by The Chicago Tribune for various communication and information logs for himself and his staff, labeling it "unduly burdensome." After a second request by the Tribune, they were informed that 90 percent of the emails had been deleted by Emanuel and his top aides.

New stuff >December 05, 2015> Hillary Clinton responded “I do” when asked whether she stood by Emanuel, who is a veteran of both the Obama and Clinton administrations. Hillary supports a federal investigation into the Chicago police department because of the disturbing video, which shows officer Jason Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times. I do not think you need a slide rule to figure out a Federal Investigation will clear Rahm.



Gary R. Welsh said...

Emanuel made that $16.2 million based on one transaction he worked on for a company owned by Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican.

Anonymous said...

It's still considered Robbery under Florida Law 812.13

Anonymous said...

"police depts are always taking apps" thats because crooked politicians are looking for dirty campaign money - usually a couple thousand to a city councilman will get you a job with the police dept

Eric Morris said...

I happen to be several miles north of that execution right now. I did just read a history of Detroit; cops use to far worse. Not that that helps. Remember, the state is merely the organization that has the monopoly on the use of force in a given territory.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:54 Such a Hoosier comment. The cops merely CHARGE the perp with a crime. It's up to the COURTS to convict and sentence.

Anonymous said...

To 8:20, Hoosier in the summertime, Florida grandma in the winter...And the State (Prosecutor's charge), but I'm sure you already know that Harvard boy... I was simply commenting on Gary at 9:38.

Anonymous said...

Execute? When you rob a bank and waive a deadly weapon at police, you can expect to be shot. This criminal was on parole for bank robbery. No big loss to society.

Anonymous said...

Those officers gave the suspect much more time to comply with their MULTIPLE orders than most would. They also allowed him MUCH closer to them than is dictated in proven force science principles. It is a shame that an intelligent blog such as this would demonize the police for acting quite reasonably. I wish you could have been there to deal with a crazy person six feet from you with a straight razor that was blatantly disregarding your orders! The world needs more superheroes. However, if you come out with a razor blade and willfully disobey orders from guys pointing guns at you, you might expect to be shot. But hey, common sense is no longer to be expected - unfortunately even in this blog now.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The intelligent response to the threat was exercised by the officer who fired his Taser at the victim. The officer who proceeded to finish him off with two bullets before waiting for the Taser shock to take effect is unfit to carry wear the badge of a police officer.

CameronRobertson said...

Police officers carry a big responsibility of protecting the people, but at the same time preserving life, even though the subject in question is already a detriment to the community. Recently, there was a break in nearby in one of the self storage warehouses. There was somehow a chase, and almost endangered some civilians. Police officers were quick to respond, but managed not to fire any bullets.