Man shot by LAPD officers who mistook cellphone for gun wins $2.35 million at trial - eviltoast

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… He had pulled out the phone in confusion as officers surrounded him as he walked to the corner store, responding to what turned out to be a false report of domestic violence one afternoon more than five years ago.

One of the officers thought White might have a gun, prompting him and several colleagues to start shooting. Bullets ripped into his legs and shoulder as he fell to the pavement — but he survived.

His shooting, around the corner from his South L.A. apartment building, was one of at least 38 in the last five years in which LAPD officers opened fire on someone who ended up being unarmed, according to a Times review of nearly 200 police shootings since 2018. …

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If the cops had their shit together, they would have killed him dead and avoided this whole mess.

    (And no one can tell me they don’t talk shit like that in the locker room.)

  • Maeve@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    That doesn’t seem enough to cover medical bills, let alone living expenses, especially after legal fees.

    • Weazel@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      wtf America… imagine getting shot, being awarded more than 2mil. Dollars compensation and then still not having enough to live.

      • Maeve@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Attorneys get a third, then medical bills (which are probably more than the payout, I just saw my friend’s bills from a minor car accident that totaled 23k, and that was just a CT scan and a couple of x-rays, at an in-and-out urgent care facility), and living expenses in South LA? Idk, it seems short.

  • mle@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    His shooting […] was one of at least 38 in the last five years in which LAPD officers opened fire on someone who ended up being unarmed

    So on average, more than 7 unarmed people get shot by police each year, in Los Angeles alone, never mind the whole country!?

  • Drusas@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Any cop who mistakes a phone for a gun, even once, should be disqualified from being a cop anywhere else in the future.

  • Pistcow@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Oh let’s wait for the appeal and then they give the officer a medal.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      1 year ago

      They don’t need to appeal, the money’s coming out of the city’s budget and the cops don’t get held personally responsible. And the fiscal conservatives are somehow fine with this very inefficient arrangement.

    • badbytes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      These people are trained around weapons. How could they perform in their occupation so poorly.

      • thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        Because their training is a few weeks long and it’s mostly centered around training them that everyone is trying to kill them.

        They’re doing exactly what they were trained to do.