A week ago, a man named Dana Fletcher was shot and killed outside the Planet Fitness in Madison, Alabama.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said two officers fired shots and killed Dana Sherrod Fletcher, 39, of Madison County, outside of the Planet Fitness on Highway 72 around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The sheriff’s office is investigating the shooting.
Authorities said Fletcher and a woman were inside the gym videoing people and asking personal questions. Madison police responded and found the two in a van with a child in the parking lot.
Fletcher and the woman were not cooperative with officers, and there was a gun in the van, according to the sheriff’s office. There was a struggle, and the woman and child were pulled out of the van, authorities said.
After trying to use a Taser to get Fletcher under control, Fletcher got out with a gun in his hand and pointed it at officers, the sheriff’s office said. That’s when two officers fired and hit Fletcher, they said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It seems straight forward.
So his widow says that he was unarmed.
Also, why do people resist the police? If the cop doesn’t want you to close your door, why fight the cop? Does anybody think the police will let them close the door and just drive off?
Maybe it is my white privilege speaking, but if you feel like you have been wronged by the police: comply first, sue later. At least you will be alive to enjoy the settlement money.
Furthermore, as the Black Supremacist news site, The Root, puts it:
Alabama Cops Kill Man in Front of Wife and Daughter After Someone Calls Cops on Them for Not Committing a Crime
The Root could not find an Alabama statute that outlaws videotaping or talking to white people.
No, but most gyms (including the one I go to) have policies against recording people in the gym. A few I’ve been to have a very strict “no cellphone use in the locker room” policy because of the problem with people being photographed or video recorded in various states of undress. Some gyms are a little more relaxed because people use their phones for music when they work out.
Planet Fitness has a very strict “no cellphone policy” and has no problem ejecting people who violate it from the gym.
It seems the Planet Fitness is one of these places where employees have been instructed to call the police to evict customers rather than have employees try and do it themselves and get into trouble or hurt.
So while it’s not illegal to record or talk to white people in Alabama, Fletcher was in violation of company policy.
According to the Madison County Sheriff, who has been put in charge of investigating the shooting:
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office hopes to have the investigation into the deadly officer-involved shooting completed by the end of next week.
39-year-old Dana Sherrod Fletcher was fatally shot by a Madison police officer outside Planet Fitness on U.S. 72 on Sunday.
Police say they were pushed to use deadly force because Fletcher pointed a gun at them.
But in a Facebook post from earlier this week, Fletcher’s wife was adamant that he was unarmed.
Investigators responded to this Thursday night.
“As far as the gun, yes there is irrefutable video evidence to show Fletcher had a gun in his hand,” said Chief Deputy Stacy Bates.
According to the rules in Alabama, the Madison County Sheriff cannot release dash or body cam footage while the investigation is ongoing.
To add to this is the complaint that the Madison County DA is letting the Madison County Sheriff investigate the Madison Police Department (Madison is a city in Madison County, which is a suburb of Huntsville, also in Madison County, it gets very confusing) instead of the state Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA).
Because this shit show doesn’t have enough clowns in it already the Fletcher family had to invite the biggest one of them all.
The family of Dana Fletcher, the man shot to death during an incident involving Madison Police Department officers on Oct. 27, has hired a civil rights attorney.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the investigation into the shooting.
The office of Ben Crump issued this news release on Friday:
Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and nationally respected Romanucci & Blandin have been retained by the family of Dana Fletcher, a man who was shot and killed by Madison police outside of a Planet Fitness on October 27. Fletcher was in the presence of his wife and young child when he was confronted and killed by law enforcement.
Attorney Crump has issued the following statement in response: “We stand with the family of this man in demanding answers from the Madison Police Department and Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Dana’s death is a tragic and unnecessary outcome from a police encounter that should have resulted in help, not death. It is another example of police overreaction and excessive use of force against people of color. The department owes his family and the public a full accounting of the facts and full transparency to get answers.”
Fuck me sideways with a wooden spoon, Ben Crump, the ring leading circus clown of the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown fiascos is coming to Madison Alabama to stir the shit pot here.
Goddamnitsonofabitchmotherfucker!!!
This was a really nice place to live. The last thing that we need is marches riots and Crump’s brand of bullshit.
This is going to be a disaster.
Well, good news is that Ben Crump didn’t manage to land a conviction in the Treyvon Martin case, so he’ll probably fail just as badly here.
True; Zimmerman was acquitted.
But how many people will still say he was guilty and should have been locked up? If you count the court of public opinion, Crump won.
This can all be short circuited if the video is released. Alabama needs to change that rule.
I really doesn’t matter either way. If you release the full video, they’ll claim it’s edited — then release their own edit that cuts out the police patiently trying to solve the situation peacefully.
My money is the guy couldn’t leave his cellphone behind, and was holding it in a way that looked like he could have a pistol in his hand.
Can they produce the gun that was recovered on scene?
Can they release stills of the video?
Anybody have a non-police video?
Dear Police — Pretend the local news are CNN & NYT, and you are a Washington DC bureaucrat and just leak the information. IMO Getting the facts out fast will derail much of the unrest, as many of the people can be reasonable and it makes the mob smaller. The SJW Mob, although it maybe smaller, will be even more determined or crazy.
Fight them with the truth.