No Justice For Slain Black Motorist...Cop & Vigilante Both Absolved Of Wrong Doing By Federal Government...

Tha Artivist Writes:
In light of the Sean Bell, Meghan Williams and Jena 6 cases, this has been a case that has been grossly overlooked by corporate media...Was justice served in this case??? Only time will tell...But I would say don't fool yourselves...We are currently living in a fascist/police state where your life along with the recent Dow Jones Report, doesn't really matter to The State...Don't view this as an isolated incident, there are too many of these cases happening around the country for it to be viewed as a coincidence...Read between the lines folks, in an economy where jobs are being lost and are not regenerated and the powers that be are building prisons faster than they build Wal-Marts, it's only matter of time before all the citizenry is locked down and property of The State...21st Century Slavery...As far as the case goes it illustrates once again why we need a fair and balanced media...Besides the following two well written articles, the only info I have been able to find on the George Temple II has been from these pro-right, pro-White, pro-gun toting blogs which would make the folks @ Fox proud...Check them out for yourselves:
http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/06/update-on-baton-rouge-shooting_06.html
http://pawpawshouse.blogspot.com/2006/03/baton-rouge-ccw-shooting-update-iv.html

Also a questionable local anonymous eye-witness account:
http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4540153

COINTEL-PRO at its worst or maybe finest!!! Please forward this case to as many people you know...W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio will be doing an extensive follow-up soon...Be well and be aware!!!

George Temple II, center, poses in a 2005 Christmas photo with his sisters Tiffany Temple, left, and Candace Temple. He was shot dead in a parking lot Friday after a scuffle with a Baton Rouge police officer.

Investigation Sought In Shooting Death

Minister Cites Community Concern

By KIMBERLY VETTER
Advocate staff writer
Published: Feb 28, 2006

A group of black elected officials and pastors stood Monday at the front of New Hope Baptist Church sanctuary and announced that they have asked the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting death of 24-year-old George Temple II.

Temple was killed Feb. 17 by a witness during a scuffle with a Baton Rouge police officer in the parking lot of the AutoZone at 9007 Greenwell Springs Road. The witness, Perry Stephens, 56, shot Temple five times, once in the head and four times in the torso. Police Officer Brian Harrison, 32, also shot Temple, once in the stomach.

"The events of Feb. 17 were tragic for this community," said state Rep. Michael Jackson, D-Baton Rouge, who also is president of the East Baton Rouge Parish Black Elected Officials. The group's members helped organize Monday's news conference.

"Temple was not a hardened criminal; he came from a loving family; therefore we stand here wanting answers."

Those answers, Jackson and other members of the group of about 25 said, are not coming from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the case.

Jackson said the group knows a lot about Temple but little about Stephens. Col. Greg Phares of the Sheriff's Office has said Stephens came to the aid of Harrison after hearing the police officer yell for help.

Jackson also said the group knows little about how the fight between Temple and Harrison began. Phares has said the fight started after Harrison, who was off-duty and working as a motorcycle escort for a funeral procession, wrote Temple a ticket for a traffic violation.

"We are putting too much of a burden on local law enforcement," Jackson said. "We are asking too much of them to conduct an impartial investigation."

Therefore, Jackson said, the group mailed a letter on Monday to the U.S. Department of Justice and the local U.S. Attorney's Office requesting an independent probe.

"Our people are very concerned and wanted to know when we were going to intervene," said Leo Cyrus, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church. "That's why we are here today."

The U.S. Justice Department could investigate two things regarding Temple's death, said U.S. Attorney David Dugas.

Department officials could look into allegations of excessive force used by Harrison, which would be a civil rights violation and a criminal case, Dugas said.

They also could investigate any patterns or practices of questionable behavior within the Baton Rouge Police Department, which would be a civil case, he said.

The department would not look into Stephens' actions because he did not commit a federal crime, Dugas said.

State Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, D-Baton Rouge, said she is considering filing legislation that would make it harder to use deadly force in self-defense or defense of others.

Currently, Louisiana allows the use of deadly force in self-defense or defense of others to "prevent a violent or forcible felony involving danger to life or great bodily harm."

Broome said she doesn't want to take guns away from citizens but make it harder to use those guns by law.

Dugas said he did not know when department officials would make a decision whether to investigate. Typically, he said, officials wait until the local investigation is complete.

Deputy Fred Raiford, Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the Sheriff's Office respects the group's rights to request an independent investigation and that the office will cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department should it investigate.

Sgt. Don Kelly, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman, said his agency also would cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department if there is an investigation.

Jackson said he and other members of the group have spoken with Temple's family and that they support an independent investigation.

Nathan Fisher, the attorney representing Temple's family, had no comment Monday.

Officer Cleared In Fatal Fight
No civil-rights violation found


Civilian Shooter Mr. Perry Stephens

* By KIMBERLY VETTER
* Advocate staff writer
* Published: Mar 7, 2008

The U.S. Justice Department has closed its investigation into the 2006 death of George Temple II, finding no civil-rights violations.

The department launched its investigation in April 2006, almost two months after Temple, 24, was fatally shot by a civilian witness during a fight with a Baton Rouge police officer.

The officer, Brian Harrison, shot Temple once in the stomach, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, the law enforcement agency charged with investigating the shooting.

The witness, Perry Stephens, shot Temple once in the head and four times in the back.

Temple was black. Harrison and Stephens are white.

A group of black elected officials and pastors asked the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting to see if Temple’s civil rights were violated.

“Our purpose in requesting that the U.S. Justice Department investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of George Temple II was to insure (sic) that justice would be served,” state Rep. Michael Jackson, D-Baton Rouge, said Thursday in an e-mail.

“Although we disagree with their conclusion, we accept the findings.”

Baton Rouge Chief of Police Jeff LeDuff and Mayor-President Kip Holden said in a joint statement that they are “very thankful that the Baton Rouge Police Department and Cpl. Brian Harrison have been cleared of any civil-rights violations.”

Jody Bobb, a Justice Department spokeswoman, would not say why or how investigators came up with their decision or what statutes the department considered.

“We can confirm that this was a civil-rights investigation, but we cannot provide specific information about the investigation,” she said.

Temple’s father, George Temple, said his family’s fight for justice isn’t over.

“This is going to court,” he said, referring to a lawsuit Karlyn King, the mother of Temple’s son, Collin C. King, filed in state District Court in Baton Rouge last year. “There’s no two ways about it.”

King claims in the lawsuit that Harrison used excessive force and Stephens, who fired the fatal shots, acted as a vigilante. The lawsuit names the city of Baton Rouge, LeDuff, Harrison and Stephens as defendants.

The Police Department conducted its own internal probes into the shooting the year it occurred, concluding Harrison did not violate any policies.

The Sheriff’s Office found no grounds for an arrest, and an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury declined to indict anyone.

During the Sheriff Office’s investigation, deputies interviewed Harrison, Stephens and several witnesses. While all painted Temple as the aggressor, not everyone agreed on what sparked the fight between Temple and Harrison in the parking lot at a north Baton Rouge AutoZone.

The Sheriff’s Office has said the fight began after Harrison, a motorcycle officer, pulled over Temple for cutting into a funeral procession and tried to give him a traffic ticket.

One witness said it started after Temple refused to let Harrison search his Mercedes, investigative files say.

Another said Temple began throwing punches from inside his car after Harrison tried to get him to leave the funeral procession.

Others variously said the fight began after Temple refused to put his hands behind his back, stop talking on his cell phone or get out of his car.

Temple’s father said “the way I see it he was profiled.

“He was shot in the back,” he said. “Any coward can shoot someone in the back.”

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