MI Trooper Charged w/Murdering Samuel Sterling. White Cop Intentionally Drove Onto Sidewalk and Violently Struck Fleeing Black Man w/a Minivan, Crushing Him. Then Handcuffed Him as He Laid Dying

From [HERE] A white Michigan State Police detective has been charged with murder after investigators say he fatally struck a fleeing Black man with an unmarked SUV last month near Grand Rapids, state prosecutors announced.

Detective Sgt. Brian Keely on April 17 tried to arrest the suspect, 25-year-old Samuel Sterling, but Sterling fled and was chased by law enforcement officers by vehicle and on foot, according to the Michigan Department of the Attorney General.

As Sterling was running through a fast food restaurant parking lot in the suburb of Kentwood, the detective – driving an unmarked SUV – turned and struck Sterling with the vehicle, prosecutors said.

After the charges against Keely were announced, Sterling family attorney Ven Johnson said, “We applaud and appreciate Attorney General Dana Nessel for doing the right thing based on the overwhelming evidence that Keely broke the law when he ran over Samuel Sterling.”

Keely’s attorney, Marc Curtis, said in a release, “It is unfortunate that in this time of political correctness, Michigan’s Attorney General has chosen to ignore the facts of this incident and rely on political pressure.”

Video Speaks for Itself

On May 10, state police announced the investigation was complete and all evidence had been turned over to the attorney general’s office. That same day, the agency released an edited compilation of body-worn and dashboard camera footage of the incident.

The footage shows at least one officer chasing Sterling on foot into a Burger King parking lot when a large grey SUV veers into the lot and hits Sterling, appearing to pin him against the restaurant wall.

After the SUV reverses away from him, several officers converge on Sterling and order him to put his hands behind his back. Sterling repeatedly screams, “My back,” and groans in pain. After his hands are cuffed in front of him, Sterling continues to complain that his back and entire body hurt.

“Don’t move man,” an officer says. Officers ask him where he feels pain and repeatedly tell him not to move until emergency medical personnel arrive. Another officer says, “We don’t want you to move your back.”

Sterling’s family was “stunned and appalled” when they watched the footage, their attorney said in a statement to CNN affiliate WWMT.

“No one person should be able to appoint themselves as judge, jury and executioner, yet deaths from police brutality and excessive force continue to occur too often. We will continue to seek justice for his family and hold accountable those responsible for his death,” Johnson said.

At the time of the encounter, law enforcement officers representing multiple departments, including the US Marshals Service, “were working a fugitive arrest operation” in an attempt to arrest Sterling, who “was wanted on multiple warrants,” Grady said in April. Authorities did not reveal the nature of the charges.

Keely will be arraigned in Kentwood district court, though the date has not been set.