'Just b/c Your Hands are Up Doesn't Mean Cops Won't Shoot:' Suit says Newark Never Explained Why a Plainclothes Cop Jumped Out an Unmarked Van and Shot Carl Dorsey to Death or What crime he committed

From [HERE] The family of Carl Dorsey III, a South Orange resident who was fatally shot by a Newark Police Department detective, is still seeking answers from authorities around the shooting incident more than a year after his death.

Without even as much of an update from the Attorney General’s Office on an investigation into the incident to date, the grieving family has taken legal action, announcing Wednesday that they filed a civil lawsuit in State Superior Court against the Newark Police Department, the City of Newark, and the officers involved for the unwarranted and unlawful killing of Dorsey.

“We announced this today, not in a joyful mood but in a sorrowful, somber mood knowing that this is a journey that this family is going to have to move forward with,” said Robert Tarver Jr., an attorney representing Dorsey’s family in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes after Dorsey was killed in a police shooting that occurred on Jan. 1, 2021. At approximately 12:03 a.m. near Woodland Avenue and South 11th Street in Newark.

Officers, including Det. Rod Simpkins, had reportedly arrived on the scene after hearing gunshots fired in the area. 

Private security camera video confiscated by the police and later released by New Jersey's attorney general shows Dorsey running across the street as an unmarked van appears in the frame and comes to a screeching halt. A detective Simpkins quickly exits the sliding door of the van and then he appears to intentionally run into Dorsey in order to stop or slow him down.

After the detective collides with Dorsey he turns and shoots Dorsey dead. Dorsey falls to the ground, where he is no longer visible between the cars. It is not clear how many times Simpkins discharged his weapon or how many bullets struck Dorsey.   

The officer gets to his feet and walks toward Dorsey as two more officers emerge from the car.

Four more officers then run on screen from farther back up the street passing the area of the shooting and heading down the street. Simpkins is still standing over Dorsey on the ground.  He then walks away in the direction of the other officers. They all disappear off screen before someone walks back up the sidewalk and appears to bend down toward the victim. A group of officers also walk back and gather around where the man is lying on the ground. 

During the 1 minute 46 second footage, no one is seen administering medical assistance. 

The video is the only footage so far found of the incident. There is no dashcam or bodycam footage from the incident because the police claim no video exists and New Jersey state law does not require plainclothes officers to use them.

The state Attorney General's Office, which is investigating the fatal shooting, said no weapon was recovered from Dorsey or from the immediate area. 

Tarver said during a press conference held at the Gateway Center in Newark that the video of the shooting incident demonstrated that Dorsey posed no threat to police and that he was shot while moving away from officers.

“You can take a look at the video. The video is clear. The video is unambiguous,” Tarver asserted.

Weeks after the shooting, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said that he found the information to be “tragic and disturbing" but incomplete.

“While the Attorney General’s Office is conducting an ongoing investigation, we are asking the public’s help to fill in some gaps,” Baraka said in a statement. "We will be asking the Attorney General’s Office to turn over information to our consent decree unit to review if the use of force or any other policy was violated.”

Charges in the lawsuit include the use of excessive, unlawful force and that the city failed to correct a pattern and practice of unlawful behavior that had not been corrected.

The lawsuit states that in 2009, Simpkins was a defendant in a lawsuit in which he was alleged to have pulled over, in plainclothes, a football coach and two teenagers. The lawsuit states that during the motor vehicle stop, Simpkins pointed his gun at the people in the vehicle and told them, “You have no f***ing rights.”

Madinah Person, Dorsey’s sister, said her family was “devastated by the whole experience.”

“I would just like to say to the officer that killed my brother and to the officers that watched him die on the concrete that I’m very disappointed in you as human beings,” said Person. “I’m very disappointed in you as cops and using your right to protect and serve. You did not protect and serve my brother. 

The lack of response from authorities has irked community leaders, too.

Larry Hamm, chair of local social justice advocacy group People’s Organization For Progress, has led multiple rallies and marches across Newark to raise awareness around what he believes was an unjust killing of Dorsey.

“Carl Dorsey should be alive today,” Hamm said. “But he was a victim - as far as we're concerned - of the use of excessive force. Over the past 18 months, we have organized protests to bring public attention to the death of Carl Dorsey because we have determined to not let this get swept under the rug.”

What’s even more frustrating for the family, Tarver said, is that it remains unclear if any corrective action was taken against Simpkins for the fatal shooting. Following the shooting, the detective was placed on administrative leave until an investigation is complete.