From [HERE] A white Columbus police officer has been acquitted in a federal case in the shooting death of a 13-year-old Black boy in 2016.

In a verdict delivered Wednesday, a jury ruled that Columbus police officer Bryan Mason did not violate Tyre King’s constitutional right to be free from unjustified deadly force. Due to the fact that the dependent media intentionally conceals the make-up of the jury, BW presumes the jury was overwhelmingly white until proven otherwise.

King’s grandmother, Dearrea King, filed the lawsuit on behalf of King’s estate in September 2018.

The lawsuit claimed Mason used excessive force when he shot King as he was running away. It also claimed Mason used a racial slur after the shooting.

Tyre King was a 13-year-old African-American child who attended Linden-McKinley STEM Academy and had just began the eighth grade. Tyre was killed on September 14, 2016 after being stopped at gunpoint by Officer Mason.

According to the complaint, ‘At the time of this stop, it is alleged that Tyre was in possession of a toy gun. Witnesses say the toy gun was not visible at the time that Tyre was stopped by Officer Mason at gunpoint.

Confronted with Officer Mason’s firearm and fearing for his life, Tyre attempted to run away from the officer.

Officer Mason alleges that he saw the grip of a handgun tucked into Tyre’s front waistband. He alleges that while he shouted, “Get down!” Tyre instead began to run away before stopping “with a quick stutter step.”

He alleges that while he shouted, “Get down!” Tyre instead began to run away before stopping “with a quick stutter step.”

Officer Mason alleges Tyre then looked directly at him before grabbing the grip of the handgun in his waistband and tugging on it. He alleges that he then shouted, “Get down!” while quickly taking one or two steps closer to the passenger side of a parked car.

Officer Mason alleges that while pointing his firearm at Tyre, Tyre “forcefully tugged on the grip of his gun at least one or two more times as if it were snagged on something.” He contends that in that instance Tyre’s alleged “refusal to comply with his commands” and “his continued attempts to pull the gun out” caused Officer Mason to believe that Tyre was going to “engage him in a gun fight.”

Officer Mason alleges that Tyre then pulled the gun out of his waistband and raised it up in front of his torso, and that Officer Mason could see it had a laser sight or light attached to the bottom of the barrel.

Officer Mason alleges that he believed Tyre was going to shoot him, and Officer Mason fired his gun at him.’ [MORE]

But according to an eyewitness on the scene, William Scott, King was turning away from Mason when Mason fired the shots. Scott testified that King “was not reaching for no weapon. He was turning to run.” (Scott Dep., R. 130-1, Page ID #2244.) Another eyewitness, Anna Skora, said that she never saw King with a gun and that King was trying to run away from Mason. And Braxton, who witnessed the shooting after complying with Mason’s order to get on the ground, said that Mason shot King while King was trying to run away.

Mason shot King three times. King died shortly thereafter. King’s expert witness reviewed the autopsy and photos from the scene and concluded that King was facing and looking away from Mason when Mason first shot King in the head. The expert also opined that there was “no physical evidence to demonstrate that [King] was holding a gun when he was shot by Officer Mason.”

Police recovered a BB gun under the front bumper of a nearby parked car after the shooting.

Immediately after shooting King, Mason began mumbling and cursing. Braxton, who was still on the ground, heard Mason rambling about how Braxton and King should have stopped. According to Braxton, Mason said: “Ya’ll dumb. Ya’ll should have stopped. You should have got down. Ya’ll so stupid. Just a bunch of dumb [n***rs].” [MORE]

According to the complaint, “Shortly after the fatal shooting, the family of Tyre King commissioned an independent examination of his body. The forensic pathologist that performed that examination determined that “based on the location and direction of the wound paths, it is more likely than not that Tyre King was in the process of running away from the shooter or shooters when he suffered all three gunshot wounds.”

The pathologist determined that Tyre suffered a gunshot wound to the left temple, amongst other gunshot wounds.

The only witness that corroborates Officer Mason’s version of events is his partner at the time of the fatal shooting, Officer Robert Reffitt.

Officer Mason’s first statement to the Columbus Division of Police investigators regarding the incident came via a written statement prepared with the assistance of his attorney on September 21, 2016 – seven days after the fatal shooting.

Officer Mason stated that it was not until he began placing Tyre in handcuffs that he noticed that Tyre appeared to be a young teenager.

Tyre was approximately 5’1” and 100 lbs. at the time of his death, described by the pathologist as a “small-framed, adolescent boy.”

In a statement to detectives, Mason said he feared a “gun fight” with King and that Mason fired when he saw a laser sight on the BB gun. Mason also claimed that King refused Mason’s commands to “get down” and pulled at the BB gun in his waistband a few times as if it was stuck on something. Mason also denied using a racial slur.

Officer Mason fatally shot Tyre while pursuing suspects in an armed robbery. The suspects listed on the police report related to the robbery were described as being between 5’8” and 5’9” tall.

The fatal shooting of Tyre King was Officer Mason’s fourth police-involved shooting incident.Officer Mason has been the subject of at least 47 reports involving force as a Columbus Division of Police Officer. Of those cases, Columbus Police have determined all but one of those cases to be “within policy” or “unfounded,” with the other determination still pending.

Between 2001 and 2017, the Columbus Division of Police determined officers were justified in using force in 99% percent of use of force reports.

The Columbus Division of Police’s chain of command, including Chief Kim Jacobs, endorsed the excessive, unreasonable and unjustifiable force that is connected to this fatal shooting and that placed Tyre and continues to place the public at unnecessary risk of death and/or injury from not only Officer Mason, but from others in the department who have a similar proclivity to use force unreasonably and inappropriately.

A grand jury declined to indicate Mason on criminal charges in May 2017 based on the prosecutors intentionally weak presentation of the case.

According to Wednesday’s ruling, Mason was found not to have “violated Tyre King’s constitutional right to be free from excessive force,” and Mason did not act “recklessly and battered Tyre King.”