• published: 23 May 2015
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Cleveland Officer Found Not Guilty In The Deaths Of Two Unarmed Suspects Shot At 137 Times By Police! Cleveland Cop Who Fatally Shot Couple Acquitted of Manslaughter Ohio patrolman acquitted in 2 deaths amid 137-shot barrage Cleveland officer not guilty in killing unarmed pair Cleveland patrolman found not guilty in deaths of 2 unarmed suspects in 137-shot barrage Judge acquits officer in 2012 fatal Cleveland shooting Ohio officer found not guilty in fatal shooting of 2 unarmed suspects Cleveland Officer Acquitted in Two Shooting Deaths Michael Brelo was the only one of 13 charged as 137 shots were fired on suspects in a vehicle in 2012 Cleveland cops shot at 2 unarmed black people 137 times. No one is going to prison for it. Cleveland police officer "Michael Brelo" who fired down through the windshield of a suspect's car at the end of a 137-shot barrage that left the two unarmed black occupants dead was acquitted Saturday of criminal charges by a judge who said he could not determine the officer alone fired the fatal shots. A white Cleveland patrolman who fired down through the windshield of a suspect's car at the end of a 137-shot barrage that left the two unarmed black occupants dead was acquitted Saturday of criminal charges by a judge who said he could not determine the officer alone fired the fatal shots. Michael Brelo, 31, put his head in hands as the judge issued a verdict followed by angry, but peaceful, protests: Outside the courthouse police blocked furious protesters from going inside while across the city others held a mock funeral with some carrying signs asking, "Will I be next?" The acquittal came at a time of nationwide tension among police and black citizens punctuated by protests over deaths of black suspects at the hands of white officers — and following a determination by the U.S. Department of Justice that Cleveland police had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights. Before issuing his verdict, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John P. O'Donnell reflected on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore over the deaths of black suspects but said he would not offer up Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction. "I will not sacrifice him," O'Donnell said. Brelo — who fired a total of 49 shots, including 15 down through the windshield while standing on the hood of the suspects' vehicle — faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him on two counts of voluntary manslaughter for his role in the end of a chase that began after Timothy Russell's beat-up Chevy Malibu backfired. His sister, Michelle Russell, said she believed Brelo would ultimately face justice, despite the judge's decision. "He's not going to dodge this just because he was acquitted," she said. "God will have the final say." Michelle Russell urged protesters to be peaceful and work for real solutions. "We need to organize and figure out a way to stop this from happening again," she said. About 200 people walked in a mock funeral procession that had already been planned to mark six months since another deadly shooting that sparked anger in Cleveland's black community: the killing of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun who was shot by a white rookie officer. Protesters carried a black, plywood coffin and softly sang "I'm going up yonder, we're marching, we're marching." The crowd was a mix of blacks and whites walking peacefully in a park and along the streets near the home of the county prosecutor as neighbors looked on. Several police officers followed the march on foot and on horses. Some carried signs saying "I Can't Breathe" and "Freddie Gray Lynched," references to a pair of police-involved deaths: the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City and the death of a Baltimore man who suffered a spinal injury while in custody. One activist, Carol Steiner, said the verdict is "a very bad precedent for Cleveland" with a decision still to come in the Rice case. "Police murder people of color and not have to serve one day in jail." The U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI will review the testimony and evidence and examine all available legal options, said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. After the verdict, sheriff's deputies stood in front of the courthouse carrying clear shields as protesters chanted "Hands up! Don't shoot!" — a rallying cry that became popular after the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson. One demonstrator bowed his head with hands folded in front of the phalanx of deputies, praying in silence. O'Donnell spent nearly an hour on an involved explanation of his decision that included mannequins marked with the gunshot wounds that the two motorists suffered on Nov. 29, 2012.