Acquitted US Policeman Likely to Commit More Violence - Advocacy Group

Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo, acquitted on manslaughter charges for killing two unarmed African-Americans and wanted for assault allegations, is likely to commit further acts of violence, US advocacy group Peoples’ Justice for Community Control & Police Accountability Coalition Coordinator Aidge Patterson told Sputnik on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — “It is very likely that this is not the last act of violence he will take against a community member as a police officer, which is terrible,” Patterson said.

Michael Brelo, 31, and his brother Mark are being charged with a misdemeanor assault after they got into a fight at the Bay Village facility on May 27, knocking down several of its doors.

On May 23, 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.

Brelo fired his gun 49 times at a vehicle, killing both occupants, the prosecutors said. He was one of more than 100 police officers to participate in a police chase, and one of 13 who shot at the car.

Patterson said that Brelo is absolutely guilty of excessive force and extreme violence that led to the killing of two African-Americans in 2012.

“I think that all of the cops who fired on them are guilty of the murder, not just this isolated individual,” Patterson concluded.

Peoples’ Justice for Community Control & Police Accountability Coalition is a New York City coalition of grassroots organizations working in African-American, Latino, and Asian communities to advocate for police accountability.