National Roundup

Rhode Island
Police release body cam video from violent arrest of teens
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Police in Providence have released body camera footage from the violent arrest of a group of teenagers in July that led to the suspension of two officers.

The more than eight hours of footage released Wednesday on the city’s YouTube page show at least two teenagers getting punched multiple times after they were arrested following a prolonged car chase through the city.
WPRI-TV reports one video shows an officer delivering several blows to a teen’s face while another officer holds the boy’s head and hands back.

Another video shows an officer punching one of the teens on the ground until he has to be restrained and pulled away from the boy, who can be heard moaning and crying, the station reports. One of the teens is showed later with a bloodied face and blood on the ground.

Officers Domingo Diaz and Mitchel Voyer were suspended with pay following the arrest and officials say they’re weighing criminal use of force charges.

Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré and Mayor Jorge Elorza last month called officers’ conduct “appalling.”

State Attorney General Peter Neronha said he authorized release of the videos because the investigation is substantially complete.

The teenagers have been charged with criminal offenses for the July 8 chase in a BMW convertible that police say lasted hours. Police say the chase involved some of the teen passengers repeatedly pointing two BB gun rifles at bystanders and ended when the car crashed into a fire hydrant.

The teens names have not been released because they’re minors and the initial police report didn’t mention any use of force by officers.

Michael Imondi, president of the Providence police union, urged the public to reserve judgment on the officers until the investigation was complete.

“What will be lost in all this is the fact that three individuals made the conscious choice to buy weapons and use them to terrorize our city with a complete disregard for life and property, committing a number of serious crimes,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

Black Lives Matter R.I. PAC said it plans to protest Friday.

“I don’t think that any of us can look at that video and see that a child is lifeless, on the ground, and being spit on, and feel like that is protecting people,” Harrison Tuttle, the group’s executive director, told WPRI-TV.

New York
Police caller must pay harassed BLM protesters $4.5K
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) — A former ice cream shop owner accused of calling police on peaceful Black Lives Matters protesters was ordered Wednesday to pay them $500 each by a judge for violating their civil rights.

Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against the former owner of Bumpy’s Polar Freeze in Schenectady was the first to rely in part on a new state law targeting false, race-based police reports.

The suit alleged that David Elmendorf wielded a baton and air rifle and shouted racial epithets at protesters who came to his business to protest after racist text messages he allegedly wrote circulated on social media.

Elmendorf also was accused of calling 911 to falsely report that armed protesters were threatening to shoot him, referring to Black protesters as “savages.”

Elmendorf’s attorney, James Mermigis, said that the allegations were “categorically false” and that his client’s name was being smeared.

The lawsuit accused Elmendorf of violating demonstrators’ rights to peacefully protest by threatening and harassing them.

It also cited a civil statute passed last year following the high-profile case against a white woman who called 911 on a Black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park and falsely claimed he was threatening her.

Under the ruling, Elmendorf must pay $500 each to nine protesters he harassed, for a total of $4,500. He is permanently barred from making future threats against people because of their race and from brandishing a deadly weapon within 1,000 feet of any peaceful protest.

“There is zero tolerance for harassment, intimidation, or violence of any kind against anyone in New York,” James said in a prepared release.

Elmendorf, who is now working in another state, was never properly served so no defense was made in court, Mermigas said.

New Jersey
Town council president charged with misuse of 911 system
PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey town council president has been charged with misusing of the county 911 emergency telephone system.

Phillipsburg Town Council President Frank McVey faces a fourth-degree charge of false public alarms and if convicted could face up to 18 months in state prison, according to Warren County First Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Robinson.

McVey said Wednesday that his actions were in line with his sworn duties as a council member, the Express-Times reported.

Before calling authorities, McVey emailed several Phillipsburg employees claiming that if he didn’t receive a response, he would call 911 and have an officer come to his home and respond to his inquiry.

According to prosecutors, the email stated: “Maybe most of you … work Monday through Friday 7-3 but I don’t with this position. Somebody give me an answer and respect the $0.35 an hour that I’m getting for this job. If I don’t receive correspondence by 6PM I will be calling 911 asking for an officer to come to my house and to give me an answer on this inquiry.”

Around 6 p.m. McVey called authorities, stated that he was not calling for an emergency, identified himself, and requested a “welfare check” on Mayor Todd Tersigni and police Chief Robert Stettner because he had not heard from them in “12 hours.”