Photos: Cases of Police Brutality

BET.com news takes a look back cases of police brutality.

Abner Louima - In August 1997, police beat Haitian immigrant Abner Louima with nightsticks and sodomized him with a toilet plunger handle, after one of the police officers, responding to a club fight, thought Louima “sucker-punched” him. In 1999, the officer, Justin Volpe, was sentenced to 30 years in prison over the incident. Another officer who helped in the assault was sentenced to 15 years. In 2001, the city of New York awarded its largest police brutality settlement to Louima for $8.75 million.
Amadou Diallo - In 1999, Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old West African immigrant, was killed in a hail of 41 shots by four undercover NYPD officers. Diallo was standing near his Bronx apartment building when officers, thinking he matched the description of a rapist, approached him. Officers claim Diallo ran up the stairs. When he stopped, he reached in his pocket to get his wallet, which officers mistook for a gun, and shot him. The officers were eventually acquitted of all charges in the incident.
Timothy Stansbury - In January 2004, a 19-year-old unarmed New York City man, Timothy Stansbury, was shot and killed by a police officer who was patrolling the rooftop of a Brooklyn apartment building. The officer, Richard Neri, said Stansbury pushed the rooftop door open, startling the officer and causing his to accidentally shoot and kill Stansbury. A grand jury eventually found the shooting to be accidental. A year later Neri was elected to a post in the police union.
Melvin Jones - While being arrested during a traffic stop in Springfield, Mass. in November 2009, Melvin Jones was struck repeatedly with a police flashlight by an officer in an incident captured on video by a passer-by. Jones filed a lawsuit against six Springfield officers and the city late last year. The officer, Jeffrey Asher, was fired and still faces charges in the case. Separately, Jones was arrested in January 2011 for allegedly stealing 33 pair of pants from JC Penney.The Jersey Four - Rayshawn Brown and LeRoy Jarmaine Grant, Danny Reyes, and Keshon Moore were on their way to professional basketball tryouts in North Carolina when they were stopped by State Troopers on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1998. The Troopers fired 11 shots at the van, later saying that the shootings were in self-defense because the van had been backing up into them. All of the men, who were not armed, survived. The troopers were indicted on attempted murder and aggravated assault charges.

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Amadou Diallo - In 1999, Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old West African immigrant, was killed in a hail of 41 shots by four undercover NYPD officers. Diallo was standing near his Bronx apartment building when officers, thinking he matched the description of a rapist, approached him. Officers claim Diallo ran up the stairs. When he stopped, he reached in his pocket to get his wallet, which officers mistook for a gun, and shot him. The officers were eventually acquitted of all charges in the incident.

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