November 12, 2020
Christopher Asher Wray
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C 20535-0001
Dear Director Wray:
This is a formal criminal complaint against the Los Angeles Police Department for corruption and the covering up of the killing of a teen in October 2016. Please find enclosed a video that outlines the extent of the wrongdoing and the cover-up. In summary:
On October 1, 2016, members of the Los Angeles Police department shot and killed two black teens. One of the teen was Carnell Snell. Snell was armed and the LAPD said that the shooting was justified. This complaint is not concerning whether of the not the shooting of Snell was justified; however it is about the cover-up of the LAPD shooting of another teen in the incident. I have clear evidence that the LAPD altered a video of a surveillance camera to deceive the public to cover-up one of the killings. This evidence was provided by the LAPD.
The eye-witnesses accounts also confirm that they did in fact shot and killed another individual. Therefore, I am requesting that a criminal investigation be conducted in this matter. I am also sending a copy of this request to President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr.
Moreover, this information will also be released to the press because the public needs to know what the LAPD has done in this case. We are prayerful that action will be taken now to investigate this matter. However, I would like you to clearly understand – I do not have to speculate about the alteration of the video and this is not an aberration; there are some in police departments across the nation who are changing videos at will.
Director Wray, this is a clear case of wrong doing. It is imperative that swift action be taken now to thwart future corruptions of this type in police departments around the country. Therefore, I am prayerful that Attorney General William Barr and President Trump be briefed immediately on your plan of action to ensure a timely investigation is conducted. Moreover, when the people become aware of what the LAPD has done – some will be outraged and they will be looking for action.
We must support the police; however they must be held accountable; the system has failed. Moreover Director Wray, President Trump and Attorney General Barr must understand the gravity of police corruption across the nation. I have studied this problem – the gravity of this corruption has not been captured by any known official source. Some people think that the chief concern is about the shooting of unarmed black individuals; it goes beyond that factor. In some of these incidents, police officers are completely out of control and the system continues to fail to keep them in check.
I have also included a video of another incident. The individual was not killed by the police; however he was beaten for over six minutes – the alleged crime was walking on the wrong side of the road. This incident happens just two days prior to the killing of George Floyd. Reginald Arrington Jr., was struck repeatedly by Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies in Tennessee on May 23, 2020. He sustained several injuries as a result. Moreover, he was incarcerated for four weeks at the Silverdale Detention – allegedly while he was incarcerated at the facility he contracted COVID-19 and now suffers from lung and kidney damages. Surely there are many who have seen this video of the six minutes beating of this man. However, I am including this enclosed video not to highlight the beating of Mr. Arrington: however, I am highlighting the way Mr. Arrington was treated by these Sheriff Deputies.
Here is the point; no person in the United States of America should be treated the way these Sheriff Deputies treated this man. Nevertheless, the way they treated Mr. Arrington is an established standard of treatment for Blacks in America by some members of America’s Law Enforcement Communities. This standard exists because the police in general understand that they will not be held accountable for this type of misconduct. Here is the problem: the people in authority are not going to watch these videos and discover the misconduct and the Blue Wall of Silence works to keep it concealed. Consequently, there is no accountability for this type of police misconduct; but this is the very behavior that creates and help facilitates the mistrust for of the police throughout the country.
We have included a copy of the dash cam video on the incident that goes beyond the beating. This video clearly shows the abuse of power by these officers and violations of Mr. Arrington’s civil rights. Here is the problem; the leadership will not take time out and watch these videos; however they will take action based on their perceptions, preconceived notions, or their limited understanding of the problem. We ask that action be taken to ensure that lessons learned be share to help ensure that this abuse of power is brought to an end in the United States of America.
There are thousands of videos of police misconduct posted on the Internet. You are able to see police planting drugs at the scenes, planting evidence, beating children, shooting people in the back, shooting at cars leaving the scenes, breaking cars windows after minor traffic stops, running over people while driving police vehicles, in one incident they handcuffed a child (a black girl, 15 years old) after the child is involved in an accident - her bike ran into a moving car – the child was handcuffed and put in the back of the police car – then a police officer peppered sprayed her while she is handcuffed and sitting in the back of the police car, police engaging in sexual misconduct with women on the streets, editing of raw footage of videos, preventing paramedics from doing their jobs, pulling individuals out of cars and then beating them, kicking individuals, stumping individuals when they are down on the ground, choking individuals, taking people’s money – robbing them in plain view with their gun pointed at them, and beatings after beatings. There are also television media news accounts of some of these incidents; some of these accounts show how the prosecutors dropped charges on the suspects after watching the video evidence. There are also internet postings of individuals killed by police – this site includes justified and unjustified killings. Consequently, (1) the public safety is at risk (2) police officers are killing innocent people (3) many citizens fear the police (4) citizens are arming themselves with knowledge regarding their rights (5) some are challenging police on the spot with their knowledge (6) citizens are arming themselves with weapons for protection from the police (7) and cities across the nation are paying millions of dollars defending the police and paying lawsuits for police misconduct.
Director Wray, this is still President Trump’s watch. It is imperative that President Trump understand the gravity of police misconduct and the real impact that it is having throughout the nation.
Sincerely yours,
Elmore Richmond Jr.
Retired SMSgt, USAF
Prophet of GOD in the Name of JESUS
Co-Founder
The Church Readiness Ministries
Enclosures:
- DVD of Formal Complaint Against the LAPD of the Cover-up of the killing of a Teen
- DVD of the Dash Cam Video of the Beating and Ill Treatment of
Reginald Arrington Jr., was struck repeatedly by Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies in Tennessee on May 23, 2020