Parents of man shot and killed by Colorado officer after scuffle sue
The lawsuit, announced Tuesday, said Officer Brandon Mills shot Rashaud Johnson, 32, twice in the chest on May 12 when he posed no threat. Mills held him at gunpoint as Johnson bled on the ground, waiting about five minutes for another officer to arrive without trying to help, the lawsuit said.
When the other officer arrived, Mills told him Johnson did not have a gun but said Johnson had tried to disarm him several times, according to police body camera footage. Mills put a single hand on one of Johnson's wounds after the officers handcuffed him, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Johnson, who was Black and a standup comedian, was having a mental health crisis when he was killed at a vast remote airport parking lot near where he lived. Employees had called 911 five times over about two hours asking for police to check on Johnson as he walked barefoot on the lot's hot pavement, according to the lawsuit and information previously released by police. Mills responded alone after the employees reported that Johnson was 'trying to fight them.'
Johnson did not respond to Mills' questions and rushed toward the officer, according to body camera footage. Mills swung his baton and then fired his Taser before they ended up on the ground in a struggle, the footage showed.
Johnson pulled one of Mills' spare ammunition magazines from his belt, the lawsuit said. After Mills pushed Johnson off of him and ordered him to move back, Mills pulled out his gun and said he would shoot Johnson if he didn't get on the ground. Johnson stood still, not far from the lot's fence, before he slowly began walking toward Mills, according to the footage. Mills then shot him from about 15 feet (5 meters) away.
District Attorney Brian Mason has not yet decided whether the shooting was justified or criminal charges should be filed, said his spokesperson, Christopher Hopper. The Aurora Police Department is reviewing the shooting, city attorney Pete Schulte said.
'Like any critical incident, there are important facts that will be revealed by these investigations that are not depicted in a single body camera video. Now that this lawsuit has been filed my office will defend the city and the officer in this case,' Schulte said.
Mills could not be located for comment. An email message sent to the union representing Aurora police officers was not immediately returned.
Johnson's mother, Taushica Carter, said that as a military veteran, she has trouble understanding how someone who took an oath to uphold the law killed her only child.
'Someone who thought they were God, basically, took my baby's life,' she said at a news conference with her lawyers, tears running down her face.
His father, Christopher Johnson, said he wanted people to know that his son was not a troublemaker and had parents who loved him.
'We want his memory to be positive and the community to understand the loss that did not have to happen,' he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Afghanistan's Taliban have ‘weaponized' the judicial system to oppress women, UN expert says
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have 'weaponized' the legal and judicial system to oppress women and girls in what amounts to 'crimes against humanity,' the independent U.N. investigator on human rights in the country said. Richard Bennett said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Wednesday that after seizing power in 2021 the Taliban suspended the 2004 constitution and laws protecting the rights of women and girls. These include a landmark law that criminalized 22 forms of violence against women, including rape and child and forced marriage. The Taliban dismissed all judges under the previous U.S.-backed government, including approximately 270 women, replacing them with men who share their extreme Islamic views, lack legal training and hand down decisions based on edicts issued by the Taliban, he said. In addition, he noted that the Taliban have assumed full control over law enforcement and investigative agencies, systematically purging Afghans who worked for the previous government. Bennett, who was appointed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, focused on access to justice and protection for women and girls in his report. He said he held meetings, focus-group discussions and one-on-one interviews with more that 110 Afghans inside and outside the country. He did so remotely because the Taliban have refused to grant him a visa to travel to Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, their crackdown on women and girls has been widely reported and globally denounced. Taliban leaders have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, banned most employment, and prohibited women from many public spaces, including parks, gyms and hairdressers. New laws ban women's voices and bare faces outside the home. The Taliban remain isolated from the West because of their restrictions on women and girls and have only been recognized by Russia. Bennett said the Taliban did not respond to an advance copy of the report and a request for information about their efforts to ensure access to justice and protection for women and girls. The Taliban defend their approach to justice by claiming they are implementing Islamic sharia law, but Islamic scholars and others have said their interpretation is unparalleled in other Muslim-majority countries and does not adhere to Islamic teachings. They say protecting the legal rights of women is a priority. Bennett said, however, that women have virtually no rights. 'Today, there are no women judges or prosecutors and no officially registered female lawyers, leaving women and girls with fewer safe channels to report abuse or seek redress,' he wrote. 'Coupled with a lack of female officials in the police and other institutions, the result is widespread underreporting of violence and discrimination against women and girls.' Bennett said access to justice for girls 'is further undermined by the dismantling of key legal safeguards and institutions protecting the rights of children,' including juvenile courts and juvenile rehabilitation centers. The Taliban requirement that a woman must be accompanied by a male relative also creates barriers to filing complaints and attending court proceedings, he said, and disproportionately affects widows, women who are the heads of their households, the displaced and disabled. 'Women who engage with the Taliban court system — whether as victims seeking redress, to resolve family issues, to obtain official documents or as alleged offenders — face a hostile environment,' Bennett said. 'Courts often reject complaints made by women and are especially reluctant to accept cases relating to divorce, child custody and gender-based violence.' Facing these obstacles, Bennett said, women increasingly turn to traditional and informal justice mechanisms, including formal jirgas and shuras — community councils of elders — and informal mediation by religious leaders, community elders or family. But these are all male-dominated and raise 'serious concerns about the rights of women and girls,' he said. He said international forums offer the best hope for justice. He pointed to the International Criminal Court's request on Jan. 23 for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders accused of crimes against humanity for persecution 'on gender grounds.' And he urged all countries to support efforts to bring Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice, the U.N.'s highest tribunal, for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Military base shootings have ranged from altercations to workplace violence and terrorism
ATLANTA (AP) — The shooting of five U.S. Army soldiers at a base in Georgia on Wednesday is the latest in a growing list of violent occurrences at American military installations over the years. Shootings have ranged from isolated events between service members to attacks on bases to mass-casualty events, such as the shooting by an Army psychiatrist at Texas's Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead. Here is a look at some of the shootings at U.S. military bases in recent years:
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Helicopter crash in Ghana kills ministers of defense and environment and 6 others
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A military helicopter crashed in Ghana on Wednesday, killing all eight people on board, including the West African country's defense and environment ministers and two other top officials, the government said. The crash was one of Ghana's worst air disasters in more than a decade.
