May 23--Saying he would "not sacrifice" a Cleveland police officer to appease a public frustrated with law enforcement, a judge on Saturday acquitted Officer Michael Brelo of manslaughter charges after he shot two unarmed people at the end of a wild 2012 car chase in which officers fired 137 shots.
In his ruling, Judge John P. O'Donnell acknowledged the fear and anger over the recent deaths of black men at the hands of police in New York; Baltimore; Ferguson, Mo.; and North Charleston, S.C. That animosity has been fed "not just by stories that attract TV watchers and Internet clickers," but by the police officers' actions, he said.
Even so, O'Donnell wrote of Brelo, "I will not sacrifice him to a public frustrated by historical mistreatment at the hands of other officers."
Brelo, 31, was accused of manslaughter for jumping onto the hood of a car and unleashing a fatal barrage of gunfire at Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. On Nov. 29, 2012, Russell led police on a 20-mile chase after, police said, a gun was fired at officers near the city's downtown justice center. No gun was ever found, and prosecutors said the sound was a car backfiring.
Television footage showed Brelo bursting into tears Saturday morning when the judge declared him not guilty.
During the 22-minute chase, more than 100 officers pursued Russell, firing dozens of shots. Russell's car was stopped when two police cruisers trapped it in a school parking lot. At that time, prosecutors said, Brelo jumped on the hood of Russell's car and fired at Russell and Williams 15 times from point-blank range. Out of the 137 rounds fired during the chase, Brelo shot 49 of them.
Michelle Russell, Timothy's sister, said the investigation was flawed.
"We're only looking at one side of the story," Michelle Russell said in a television interview. "I do not believe they ever used their car as a weapon. I do not believe they ever had a gun.
"There's another side to this story that never came out. It never dawned on anybody in the courtroom or the judge that maybe these officers' stories aren't true."
Michelle Russell said Brelo might have escaped prosecution, but will still carry the responsibility of being part of the group that killed her brother and Williams.
"He's going to be known as the person, most people think he's guilty," she said. "He's not going to dodge this."
The chase sparked a years-long U.S. Department of Justice review of Cleveland police tactics. Federal investigators released their findings last year, ruling that city police routinely used excessive force, needlessly shot residents and used stun guns and chemical sprays to punish, rather than subdue, suspects.
On Saturday, the head of the department's Civil Rights division said the agency is conducting a separate review of the Brelo trial to determine "what, if any, additional steps are available and appropriate." The department is likely to receive a federal monitor as part of the federal probe sparked by the 2012 chase.
Brelo's trial, coupled with the Justice Department's findings and the November 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, also served to deepen a growing divide between Cleveland's police and city residents.
O'Donnell alluded to Tamir's death in the introduction to his ruling, in which he noted that "in many American places, people are angry with, mistrusting and fearful of the police." He added that "probably not coincidentally, these places are mostly African American communities."
He added: "Cleveland, too, is one such place, as the reaction and attention to this case and other recent events has shown. Every week I pass a mound of stuffed animals left in memory of a 12-year-old many believe was murdered by a Cleveland police officer."
A slew of officers refused to testify at the trial, and others who had been subpoenaed refused to even meet with prosecutors to go over their testimony. Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty accused the union of attempting to insulate Brelo from prosecution, comparing their actions to those of an "organized crime syndicate."
McGinty, who has been critical of police officers' refusal to cooperate with the investigation, said the prosecution has already brought about changes to the department.
McGinty said police are already pulling off of car chases they may have previously continued -- like the chase that ended in Williams' and Russell's deaths, he said.
McGinty said body cameras and dashboard cameras in police cars will improve police and community relations.
"The dash cams and body cams will become the unblinking credible witness when police and criminals act," McGinty said. "The truth will prevail."
Stephen Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Assn., repeatedly called McGinty "insane" during the case and accused the prosecutor of trying to capitalize on recent nationwide scrutiny of police to secure a conviction against Brelo.
Brelo, who still faces department discipline, left Cleveland with his wife and two children after the verdict, according to Loomis, who said he is "fearful" that Brelo could be a target for violence if he returns to patrol in the city.
In a phone interview Saturday, Loomis continued to blast McGinty's openness with reporters in the run-up to the trial and what he described as the prosecutor's overzealous pursuit of a conviction.
"The lengths that McGinty went to to try to win this case are embarrassing. He should be disbarred," Loomis told the Los Angeles Times. "I can't imagine how he's not going to be reprimanded for his antics and the statements that he made."
Although he called the shooting "a tragedy," Loomis also chided protesters who were angered by the verdict.
Demonstrations after the verdict have been calm, compared with the massive protests spawned in several cities after grand juries declined to indict police officers involved in the deaths of unarmed black men in New York City and Ferguson last year.
After the verdict Saturday, dozens of protesters gathered at the courthouse, according to multiple media reports. They chanted "hands up, don't shoot" and were met by sheriff's deputies carrying shields.
Although no one was arrested or injured, City Councilman Jeff Johnson said the appearance of deputies in riot gear caused plenty of tension outside the courthouse. Johnson, who has been present for most of the trial, said he was angered, but not surprised, by the verdict.
"History shows us more likely than not officers will be found not guilty," he told The Times.
Johnson, who is hopeful that Brelo will be fired after the department completes its internal review of the shooting, said the verdict sent a clear message to city residents that police officers will not be held accountable for their actions in Cleveland.
With O'Donnel deciding that Brelo was justified in using deadly force because he feared Russel and Williams had a weapon, even though they didn't, Johnson said that same argument could be used against prosecutors reviewing the death of Tamir Rice.
"The hysteria that the cops felt, the fear that the cops felt, was created by themselves," Johnson said. "It's already been a signal sent when the union heads talk about and rely on the same argument. There was a fear of harm and they reacted."
UPDATES
3:32 p.m.: Adds comments from Jeff Johnson and reports that the Department of Justice is conducting a review of the trial.
1:33 p.m.: Adds comments from Stephen Loomis.
11:03 a.m.: Adds comments from Judge John P. O'Donnell
10:16 a.m.: Adds comments from Michelle Russell.
9:55 a.m.: Adds more details about the car chase.
9:32 a.m.: Adds information about protests and statements following the verdict.
This story was originally published at 8:49 a.m.
