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    2020 07 26 Misc Press Statement Bailey Richard PDF

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    The law firm representing Richard Bailey issues a statement criticizing the Lafayette Police Department for releasing a heavily edited video of Mr. Bailey's detention in an attempt to justify their actions. The statement calls on the police to release unedited body camera footage and accuses the officers of violating Mr. Bailey's civil rights and almost killing him by siccing a dog on his throat. It concludes that the incident shows bad policing and a lack of basic human decency by the officers involved.

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    2020 07 26 Misc Press Statement Bailey Richard PDF

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    Anonymous EHPq5k
    48 views2 pages
    The law firm representing Richard Bailey issues a statement criticizing the Lafayette Police Department for releasing a heavily edited video of Mr. Bailey's detention in an attempt to justify their actions. The statement calls on the police to release unedited body camera footage and accuses the officers of violating Mr. Bailey's civil rights and almost killing him by siccing a dog on his throat. It concludes that the incident shows bad policing and a lack of basic human decency by the officers involved.

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    The law firm representing Richard Bailey issues a statement criticizing the Lafayette Police Department for releasing a heavily edited video of Mr. Bailey's detention in an attempt to justify their actions. The statement calls on the police to release unedited body camera footage and accuses the officers of violating Mr. Bailey's civil rights and almost killing him by siccing a dog on his throat. It concludes that the incident shows bad policing and a lack of basic human decency by the officers involved.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    48 views2 pages

    2020 07 26 Misc Press Statement Bailey Richard PDF

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous EHPq5k
    The law firm representing Richard Bailey issues a statement criticizing the Lafayette Police Department for releasing a heavily edited video of Mr. Bailey's detention in an attempt to justify their actions. The statement calls on the police to release unedited body camera footage and accuses the officers of violating Mr. Bailey's civil rights and almost killing him by siccing a dog on his throat. It concludes that the incident shows bad policing and a lack of basic human decency by the officers involved.

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    July 26, 2020

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    STATEMENT BY THE LAW FIRM OF FATIMA JOHNSON,


    ATTORNEYS FOR RICHARD BAILEY,
    REGARDING LAFAYETTE POLICE DEPARTMENT’S
    SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ON JULY 25, 2020

    Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein wrote that “[t]he slickest way in the world to lie is to tell
    the right amount of truth at the right time-and then shut up.” Yesterday, in an attempt to silence
    Richard Lee Bailey and to justify unwarranted actions and to demonstrate how necessary it was to
    sic a vicious dog on a man lying on the ground, Chief Patrick Flannelly of the Lafayette Police
    Department posted a video online that did nothing but reinforce our position. The Lafayette Police
    Department violated Mr. Bailey’s civil rights and are now lying to the public about their actions.
    They have released a heavily edited version of their detention of Mr. Bailey. If these officers did
    such a good job, let them show the public the good work that their tax dollars has funded. The
    Lafayette Police Department should immediately release these officers’ unedited body worn
    camera footage with no redactions. More than two months after this incident occurred, the only
    reason they are sharing any information is because they got called out publicly. Now, they are
    trying to justify almost killing a man, a man who they could have just slapped handcuffs on while
    he was lying on the ground. By playing a 911 tape, they asked the public to support them in their
    quest to be judge, jury, and executioner of Mr. Bailey. What that 911 tape failed to mention is that
    Mr. Bailey was attacked with a knife, had a gun pointed at him, and yet still managed to inflict less
    damage to his attackers than the police did to him.

    We find it ironic that Lafayette Police Department had the audacity to speak of considering all
    facts, weighing the evidence, and all the other platitudes that the public regularly hears after police
    officers have killed or almost killed a man. They have already closed their internal investigation
    and cleared the officers of wrongdoing although not one officer has spoken to Mr. Bailey about
    his version of the events that preceded his detention. If the actions the Lafayette Police Department
    took on the evening of May 9th were according to policy, then the policy is clearly flawed. The
    only thing the Lafayette Police Department has made clear is that it is incapable of policing
    citizens, if not for anything else, because there is a disconnect between their policies and basic
    human decency.

    3737 N. Meridian Street, Suite 106, info@vitaldefender.com


    (317) 455-6829
    Indianapolis, IN 46208
    Basic human decency, not a training course in the intricacies of K-9 deployment, would have
    prevented this incident. Basic human decency is not a trait that you can train someone to have.
    Basic human decency, when coupled with a minimal amount of common sense, would have kicked
    in for any officer who saw Mr. Bailey’s throat being ripped apart. Any officer with basic human
    decency would not expect a man to be still while a dog is making a meal of his Adam’s apple.

    Let us be clear, Officer Saxton did not get out of his car ready to investigate; he got out of his car
    annoyed, belligerent, and ready to cause harm. Once he encountered Mr. Bailey, he upgraded Mr.
    Bailey’s questions about why he was being detained to “resisting arrest” and was more than happy
    to assault him via K-9. Basic human decency would never allow for the abuse of power against a
    defenseless person. Two other officers stood idly by while Officer Saxton and his dog took Mr.
    Bailey to death’s door. A small child would be able to reason that a dog biting a man’s neck could
    potentially kill him. To say that this dog was used as anything other than a lethal weapon is willful
    ignorance.

    We can only imagine that the thoughts running through the officers’ heads as Mr. Bailey’s blood
    spewed on the ground were along the lines of, “Have I gone too far?” But how can we expect these
    officers or any Lafayette police officers to discern between right and wrong when they are
    rewarded after their wrongdoing. This incident is a prime example of bad policing. When
    Tippecanoe County residents speak of defunding police, they are talking about you, Lafayette
    Police Department. Incidents like these, with clear humanitarian violations, are what no taxpayer
    wants their money to support.

    There is no justification for what happened to Mr. Bailey. He was treated inhumanely. He was
    given less respect than the dog that attacked him. And let’s just say that this colorblindness that
    the Lafayette Police Department says it has, this burning desire to treat all citizens the same
    regardless of the color of their skin, is not consistent with the experiences that Black men have in
    Lafayette. The only difference here is that Mr. Bailey is fighting back. He fought back against
    being attacked in that apartment on May 9th, he fought for his life as surgeons fought to save him
    from injuries inflicted upon him by the Lafayette Police Department, and now he is fighting for
    justice against the injustice that he experienced. Mr. Bailey and the other Black citizens of
    Lafayette have had enough.

    ###

    PRESS CONTACT:

    Elayne Rivers

    (646) 626-2495

    erivers@vitaldefender.com

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