Do Policemen Have a Duty to Die, at the Hands of Black Men? Austin’s Black Community Outraged That Cop Did Not Permit “Peaceful” Black Man with 30

Previous Arrests to Murder Him

 
Digital Texan: “Ahmede Bradley had an ounce of cocaine on him the night he was shot. He had also been arrested 30 times.” N.S.: Note, too, the gangbanger “teardrop tattoo.”
 

By Nicholas Stix
 

“Get the police there right away — this officer is going to lose control of his weapon!”

911 call during Ahmede Jabbar Bradley’s struggle to murder Austin Policeman Eric Copeland

“Something has got to change. I am furious.”

Black area resident Audrey Steiner, outraged that Officer Copeland had foiled Bradley’s murder attempt, and dispatched the would-be cop-killer.

“Ahmede Bradley was a peaceful man, who never had any enemies in his community.”

Keith Williams Sr., who said he went to high school with Bradley.

“Anytime there's a loss of life, it’s a very tragic situation. We're concerned because these things keep happening.”

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
 

[Previously, on this case, at WEJB/NSU:

“Trayvon Redux: Austin Cop Shoots and Kills Negro Male Who was Trying to Kill Him; Community Outraged at Cop, for Refusing to Die; Second Police Refusal-to-Die Incident in 11 Months.”]
 


 

Every time a black man assaults a police officer, or even tries to murder him, all we hear from his friends, family, and “the black community,” is how wonderful, and virtuous he was, and that he wouldn’t hurt a fly. And then we hear how the dead man’s family is entitled to zillions of dollars, and all blacks are entitled to riot and rape, maim, and murder every white or Asian (or white enough Hispanic) who crosses their path. But we’re—everyone who isn’t drinking the kool aide—racists, who doeserve to lose our jobs, be imprisoned, and murdered in prison, if we call the black violence “violent,” and if we call the racist, insane support of 90 percent of blacks for it, “racist” and “insane.”

* * *
Police Chief: Several Witnesses Saw Struggle Between Officer, Man Who was Later Killed
ByJazmine Ulloa
 and Claire Osborn
Friday, April 6, 2012,10:54 p.m.
Updated on Saturday, April 7, 2012, at 8:23 p.m.
American-Statesman

Taped 911 calls reveal that several East Austin residents called for help as they witnessed an officer struggle to keep his handgun from a man he later fatally shot Thursday night in East Austin.

"I have reviewed 911 tapes that are very telling," Police Chief Art Acevedo said. "There are people on the street calling in, saying to get the police there right away — this officer is going to lose control of his weapon."

Acevedo revealed few details on the incident Friday but said he would push for the police video and audio tapes that captured it to be made available to the public soon. "For those folks who question whether or not it is a lawful shooting, all I would ask is that you wait, to hold your final judgment until we release this information," he said.

Residents poured onto the streets just minutes after 7 p.m., when authorities said Ahmede Jabbar Bradley, 35, was fatally shot in the yard of a home on Overbrook Drive, near Manor Road and 51st Street. Some expressed frustration at the use of force by police on young, black men in the neighborhood. Others wept and embraced.

Police said Bradley was involved in at least two scuffles with officer Eric Copeland, who had initially stopped him for a minor traffic violation. Acevedo described the fights as violent and said Bradley had attempted to choke Copeland with the cord of his radio.

Friends and family members said they were shocked by the series of events that led to the deadly shooting. They said Bradley was community-oriented and devoted to his three children.

"Ahmede Bradley was a peaceful man who never had any enemies in his community," said Keith Williams Sr., who said he went to high school with Bradley.

A search of public records shows a lengthy criminal history, with more than a dozen offenses, most for evading arrest and narcotics charges.

Authorities said the incident began as a traffic stop in the 6000 block of Manor Road. But Bradley drove away from the officer, pulled over a short distance away on Overbrook Drive and began to run, police said. The officer chased Bradley and caught up to him as he tried to jump a fence, and the two struggled before Bradley broke free and fled again, police said.

Acevedo said that the officer tried to use his Taser stun gun during the chase to subdue Bradley, described as more than 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, but that "one of the prongs did not take."

Police said that at one point, both men struggled for control of the officer's gun and that the officer then fired several shots. Officers attempted CPR, but Bradley died at the scene a short time later.

Copeland, who has been with the Police Department since September 2009, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending a review of the incident and a chemical and psychological evaluation, Acevedo said.

A day before his death, Bradley bought his 16-year-old daughter a new pair of shoes — black Air Jordan Retro 10s — her mother, Mia Brown, said Friday.

But she does not want to wear them anymore, Brown said Friday at her Northeast Austin home, where friends and family gathered to mourn Bradley's death.

"I lost my best friend and my baby daddy," she said.

A candle, plastic flowers and a pinwheel have been placed near the spot where Bradley died. Greg Anderson, who lives next door, said he was alarmed by the sound of gunfire.

"I heard the pop, pop, pop and told my little girl to get on the floor," he said. "I'm not on either person's side because I don't know the truth, but I wouldn't want to find myself in their predicament."

Contact Jazmine Ulloa
at 445-3763
* * *
911 calls released: Witnesses back police officer in fatal shooting of Ahmede Bradley
By John Hambrick
April 12, 2012
Digital Texan

Ahmede Bradley had an ounce of cocaine on him the night he was shot. He had also been arrested 30 times.

911 calls from witnesses to a police shooting indicate that Austin Police Officer Eric Copeland was fighting for his life when he pulled his weapon and shot and killed 35-year-old Ahmede Bradley.

The East Austin shooting touched off racial tensions between some in the black community and the Austin Police Department. APD is fighting back against claims of racism by releasing the 911 calls from the shooting and details about Bradley’s extensive criminal background.

Dispatcher: Does he have any weapons?
911 caller: Yes, He’s about to pull his gun off of him!
Dispatcher: Off the officer?
911 caller: Yes, they’re wrestling. Oh, my God.
Dispatcher: They’re wrestling on the ground?
911 caller: Yeah, oh my God, oh my God. He shot him.
Dispatcher: He shot who?
911 caller: The cop shot him.
Dispatcher: The officer shot the man he was wrestling?
911 caller: Yes.
Listen to the 911 calls:

Austin Police Shooting 911 Call #1


Austin Police Shooting 911 Call #2

Bradley had been arrested an astounding 30 times in the past. Assistant Police Chief Sean Mannix told reporters that Bradley had an ounce of cocaine on him along with $1,700 in cash the night he was shot. This may explain why he ran from the police officer during what was otherwise a routine traffic stop.

Bradley had been arrested for robbery, DWI, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and evading arrest. Clearly, Bradley was not one of Austin’s model citizens.

Bradley’s worst mistake came last Thursday after Officer Copeland tried to pull him over for a traffic violation near Manor Road and 51st Street. Bradley drove off from the officer and then jumped out the car and ran. Copeland ran him down and the two were locked in what was described as a vicious fight. 911 callers reported that Bradley was trying to wrestle Copeland’s gun from him. But the officer was able to pull his weapon and shot Bradley in the chest three times at point blank range.

Before the fatal shots were fired, Copeland had fired his Taser at Bradley, but it had no effect.

Supporters of Bradley staged a protest Tuesday night outside APD headquarters. Early in the rally, protesters bullied a counter-protester by pushing him and standing in front of his sign that read “Back the Badge.” The group was calling for an end to what they say is APD’s war on black men.

The witness statements from the 911 callers and Bradley’s abhorrent criminal record is unlikely to change the minds of the protesters or others in the black community who will blame Bradley’s death on APD no matter what the facts are.
 

[Of related interest, at WEJB/NSU:

“Cincinnati Burning”;

“Cincinnati: Recipe for a Riot;

“Cincinnati, 2002: Return of the Lynch Mob”;

“In Cincinnati, the Police are Always Presumed Guilty: The Nathaniel Jones Case”; and

“Danroy Henry: “A great kid was murdered.”

“At Fox News, Trying to Murder Three Cops Has Become, ‘Driving Towards a Police Officer.’”
 

From WEJB/NSU’s Austin files :

“‘Punch-and-Run’ Assault Video in Austin, Texas”;

“Murders in Austin, TX: First One of the Year Involves a Mexican Victim: Esme Barrera, a Teaching Assistant and Avid Rock Fan”;
“Esmeralda Barrera Slaying: Black Man Sought in Austin’s First 2012 Murder May be Serial Rapist (Killer?) Guilty of Two Other ‘Attacks’ on Women Same Night in Same Area”;

“Austin Makes More Diversitopian Progress: Rioter, Er, Shopper, Kicks Trampled Police Officer (Air Jordan Riots)”;

“Petition Demands That Suppressed UT Cartoonist Stephanie Eisner, Victim of the Racist Trayvon Martin Witch Hunt, be Reinstated!”;

“Trayvon Redux: Austin Cop Shoots and Kills Negro Male Who was Trying to Kill Him; Community Outraged at Cop, for Refusing to Die; Second Police Refusal-to-Die Incident in 11 Months”; and

“Censorship (‘Content Management’) Alert at the Austin Statesman: “Too Many Readers Have Refused to Toe the PC Line, and So We are Giving Them the Shaft….”]