Fairfax County Police Watch: Vigil for teen who died in police custody turns violent

By Nick Valencia, CNN

(CNN) -- A vigil for a teen who died in police custody turned violent in Durham, North Carolina, with riot police using tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd.

At least six people were arrested at the Thursday night march to protest the death of 17-year-old Jesus Huerta, according to police.

"I could not be more proud of the restraint and professionalism demonstrated by our officers," Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said in a statement to the media, adding that injuries to those marching were minimized because of his officers' actions.

"There was a march. The peaceful intent did not exist. We used the best practices in law enforcement," he said at a news conference Friday.

Huerta's sister, Evelin Huerta, said a federal investigation is needed.

"The actions of the Durham Police Department, led by Chief Lopez, last night were a tried-and-true tactic to intimidate and spread fear in our community," she said. "We call on Chief Lopez to resign immediately in light of his leadership that put dozens of armed police on the streets to scare residents and turned a memorial vigil into a war zone last night. We will not be intimidated by Chief Lopez and the Durham Police Department's tactics."

Protesters threw bottles and rocks at police officers and vandalized police property, Lopez said, defending his officers' reaction to the vigil.

The Durham Police Department says Huerta died on November 19 from a self-inflicted gunshot while handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser. The teen was being taken to the police station by Officer Samuel Duncan about 3 a.m. for a second-degree trespassing violation.

The chief said at the news conference that gunshot residue tests were conducted on Huerta and the arresting officer, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation "found that Huerta was wearing gloves and that his gloves had a saturation of gunshot residue on it. Officer Duncan's revealed that he had no gunshot residue on his hands," Lopez said.

The gun used was not a police firearm, Lopez has said in the past, but state authorities are still investigating where the weapon came from, according to local media. Duncan is on paid administrative leave pending the investigation's conclusion, local media reported.

Huerta's family, along with local activists, allege police foul play in the death of Huerta, who was affectionately called "Chuy" by his loved ones. Huerta's family has submitted a formal petition to local authorities for archives into the investigation, according to local media.

"People can see that we actually support him and that we need justice for Durham because it's not fair that this is happening, like the police is not giving us answers," Evelin Huerta told CNN affiliate WTVD.

A separate vigil held last month by the family also turned violent and ended in arrests. The family has said it plans to hold a protest on the 19th of every month.

"Personally, I don't believe one word of what the Durham Police Department has stated," local activist Lamont Lilly wrote in an article published shortly after Huerta's death. "It seems to me, and many others throughout the city, Durham police officers are simply covering their tracks with a concocted story that makes no physical or logical sense whatsoever."

Between 150 and 200 Huerta supporters marched Thursday from Durham City Hall to the parking lot of police headquarters. Some carried banners that read, "Fue Matado Por La Policia" or "Murdered By Police."

Others in attendance alleged police brutality and the use of excessive force by officers at the vigil.

"They didn't really look like batons or night sticks, but they were thinner and longer and they were reaching over the banner, whacking people with them," protester David Kaplan told CNN affiliate WTVD. "They were clearly upset with the fact that people were out expressing themselves and upset at the fact that it appears they murdered a 17-year-old child."

At least one demonstrator suffered minor injuries, and no officers were injured, the police chief said.

In a prepared statement, police said, "Permits are required for such events, but police officials extended compassion to the family by allowing the event. Police officers made several efforts to contact event organizers to ensure a peaceful event, but event organizers refused to speak with the police. The march became violent after participants left police headquarters and returned to downtown."

Images from the scene showed smoke billowing as riot police launched tear gas at the crowd. Some demonstrators wore masks to cover their faces.

"WTH Durham police? #racerelations," Monique Vasquez said in a tweet about the clashes. She told CNN her office was near Thursday night's incident.

Responding to Spanish-language reporters at the news conference, Lopez said that as a Hispanic, he had trouble believing the allegations among the Hispanic community that Durham police unfairly target Latinos.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has looked into three deaths in five months involving Durham police officers, and two of those killed were Latinos, according to CNN affiliate WRAL.

A similar case in July stoked skepticism in Jonesboro, Arkansas, when Chavis Carter, 21, died from a close-range gunshot while handcuffed in the back of a police car.

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.