This week, I found a case where a court, not Congress, stripped away qualified immunity from a cop and is allowing him to be sued civilly for his violent behavior. The problem, it seems, with my earlier analysis was that I focused on how courts treat cops who shoot or harm people, specifically Black people. That was foolish. I should have been looking at how courts treat cops who brutalize something this country actually cares about.
Dogs.
Read the whole thing.
The facts of the case are not in dispute. In 2017, Minneapolis police responded to a house alarm that was accidentally set off at the home of Jennifer LeMay. One of her kids had tripped the alarm by mistake, and when the home security company called, LeMay told them to cancel the alert. But the cops were already on their way. One officer went to the front of the house and was met by one of LeMay’s kids, who told the officer there was no problem. But a different cop, officer Michael Mays, went around the back of the house, scaled a privacy fence, and ended up in the backyard.
There, the cop was greeted by the LeMays’ service dogs, Ciroc and Rocko, both of whom were 5-year-old American Staffordshire Terriers (“pit bulls” to those who really need to watch more dog shows). Mays says Ciroc “charged” him, but his body camera footage shows the dog walking toward him, wagging his tail. Mays backs up, Ciroc keeps approaching, and Mays shoots it in the face. Ciroc runs away, but at that point Rocko moves towards Mays, again in a friendly, tail-wagging manner (what a good boy). Mays then shoots Rocko multiple times. Both dogs lived and will go to heaven later.
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