Acquitted Officer's Charge Shows Cleveland Police ‘Culture’ - Rights Group

A Cleveland police officer acquitted on the killings of two African-Americans and now facing a new assault charge reveals the character of his department through his propensity for violence, US advocacy group PoliceAbuse.com Executive Director Diop Kamau told Sputnik on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — “It speaks to the culture of the police department employing someone like that, it says everything,” Kamau said.

On May 27, 2015, officer Michael Brelo, 31, got into a fight at the Bay Village facility and knocked down several doors. Brelo faces a new charge of misdemeanor assault.

Kamau argued if a police officer can get “right back in another serious circumstance of misconduct and violence off-duty, it says… something about the officer’s character, demeanor and propensity for violence.”

On May 23, 2015, Brelo was found not guilty on two charges of voluntary manslaughter in the death of two African-Americans during a 2012 police chase in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kamau said that Brelo’s “propensity for violence” in the recent assault threw important light on the 2012 killings.

“That ruling belies the obvious evidence that this officer has a propensity toward violence and that it wasn’t an issue of him fearing for his life or safety when he killed two people unnecessarily,” Kamau concluded.

PoliceAbuse.com is a US non-profit organization providing assistance to victims of police misconduct in the United States, according to the organization’s website.