No Justice for Chamberlain. White Plains Officer Cleared in Shooting Death of Unarmed 68 yr Old Black Man

 Despite petition with more than 200,000 signatures asking for District Attorney Janet DiFiore to charge the officers involved in the shooting with murder and civil rights violations - no charges are filed.

 From [HERE] and NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York grand jury has declined to indict a white police officer who shot and killed an ailing black veteran in his own apartment, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

The shooting occurred in November after police responded to a call that Kenneth Chamberlain, who suffered from respiratory and heart problems, had set off his medical alert device, indicating he needed help. The encounter was recorded by audio and video devices, which police planned to release to the public after Chamberlain's family accused police of excessive force and racial profiling. Nothing was released. According to Chamberlain's attorney, transcripts from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office of audio recordings of the night Chamberlain was killed, reveal Officer Steven Hart as the officer who said to Chamberlain, “Stop, we have to talk nigger” before police broke down his door.

District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who referred to the shooting as a tragedy, said Thursday that the grand jury heard from 42 witnesses, including Police Officer Anthony Carelli, who fired the fatal shots. She said Chamberlain had threatened the police officers and would not respond to telephone calls from the medical alert operators. Police officers forced their way into his apartment and fired a Taser and bean bags at Chamberlain to try to subdue him. Then they fired real bullets. 

The Taser is equipped with a video camera that recorded the incident, but it cuts off before the bullets were fired. The medical alert device also recorded audio of the encounter. Chamberlain's family was allowed to review that evidence earlier and accused officers of acting too aggressively on an ailing man inside his own home who was not suspected of any crime. They also and said a police officer used a racial epithet when referring to Chamberlain.

"He feared for his life," said Chamberlain's son, also named Kenneth. "He kept asking them to go away and that he didn't need their help."

Chamberlain's niece, Tonya Greenhill, was outside the door with police asking them to let her talk to her uncle instead of forcing their way in, she said. "I heard my uncle begging and pleading them to please leave him alone. I could begin to almost hear fear in his voice."

Chamberlain, a 68-year-old former Marine, had such severe respiratory problems he could not walk a flight of stairs, according to his medical records. The Life Station pendant he wore would alert their operators if he was in trouble. When it went off just before 5 a.m. that November morning, police and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene of his housing project in White Plains, north of New York City near Connecticut. A loudspeaker inside his apartment was used to try to contact him, but they got no response.

Greenhill, who lives in the building, said her uncle told them he was fine when they arrived but did not want to open the door. She said she insisted to police that they let him talk to his family but they refused.

David Chong, White Plains public safety commissioner, told reporters police force was justified because Chamberlain displayed knives when he cracked open the door to speak with officers. The videotape cuts off at the time of the shooting. Following the grand jury's decision not to charge the police officer, White Plains said it would review its procedures for dealing with emotionally disturbed people. (er, what about is procedures used with Black people/ -bw).

There were at least three White Plains officers working the night Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. was killed who have pending lawsuits involving allegations of police brutality that also touch on race. 

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see there’s a pattern,” said Chamberlain family lawyer Randolph McLaughlin, a Pace University professor and attorney with the Newman Ferrara law firm.

Chamberlain, a 68-year-old retired Marine, was shot and killed on Nov. 19 by White Plains Officer Anthony Carelli in his apartment at 135 S. Lexington Ave. after police broke down Chamberlain’s door to respond to his medical alert device.

Chamberlain supporters say the original medical alert was canceled and that Chamberlain repeatedly told police that he didn’t need help, and that police forced their way in and shot him, a heart patient who was unarmed and in his boxer shorts.

While McLaughlin has said that the District Attorney’s Office has been forthcoming with information on the case—the DA’s office only allowed the Chamberlain family and lawyers to listen and watch audio and video footage from the incident as a courtesy, but have not publicly released the footage.

“Nothing has been released by anyone, which is also very odd,” said McLaughlin. “In New York City they routinely release 911 tapes. They did in the Trayvvon Martin case. Why is this so different? Why is there such a lack of transparency here?”

A grand jury is currently hearing testimony over whether criminal charges should be brought against the White Plains Department of Public Safety. McLaughlin said expects the grand jury to have a decision some time this month.

According to The Daily News, Carelli is one of six White Plains officers accused of using excessive force in a $10 million civil lawsuit brought by twin brothers of Jordanian decent who claim Carelli referred to them as “rag heads” while police beat them outside Black Bear Saloon in 2008. One of the brothers said he was handcuffed to a pole while Carelli allegedly beat him with a baton causing head and eye injuries, the newspaper said.

However, The Daily News reports that Carelli said in a deposition that one of the brothers was hitting his own head against a partition in the police car, and he had no visible head injuries. Carelli said he had to pin the brother to the ground, with the help of other officers, after he became belligerent and tried to escape the officers.

USA Today reports that Hart is currently facing a federal civil rights suit for allegedly unlawfully arresting a man, breaking his nose, and slamming him on the ground causing injury to the man’s arm. Edgar Maraud, who is Hispanic and lives in Port Chester, told USA Today that he felt the attack was racially motivated.

Sgt. Stephen Fottrell—who was also on duty the Chamberlain was shot, according to McLaughlin—is being sued for allegedly falsely arresting African-American Brooklyn resident Maria Livingston, and using excessive force via a stun gun, according to LoHud.com, because of the “color of her skin.” Fottrell said in court that he arrested Livingston, who was ejected from a bar after starting a fight, because she assaulted him several times.

“This is a pattern out of practice, “ said McLaughlin. “This was [Chamberlain’s death] was not a random occurrence. All of the people involved [Chamberlain and the plaintiffs] are all people of color. This is really troubling.”

McLaughlin said the lawsuits and allegations against city police are the reason why the police department has failed to divulge the names of the officers involved or whether they have a policies regarding the use of racial slurs or discriminatory language. The Chamberlain family’s lawyers have submitted Freedom of Information requests for police procedures regarding the use of force, use of deadly force and other policies.

“There’s been a shroud of silence from the City and police department on this case,” said McLaughlin.

Chong said in a statement that the department is fully cooperating with the district attorney's office.

White Plains Commissioner David Chong said police often visited Chamberlain, whose autopsy revealed that he was legally drunk at the time, and that Chamberlain threatened to kill himself and attacked officers with a hatchet and knife before police shot him.