A man who spent more than 16 years in prison in Florida on a wrongful conviction was shot and killed Monday by a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia during a traffic stop, authorities and representatives said.

Leonard Allen Cure, 53, was identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is reviewing the shooting.

  • chase_what_matters@lemmy.world
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    This story is fucked. He was wrongfully convicted and then set free, gets $800k compensation in August, then pulled over (looks like they’re still coming up with a reason for pulling him over), threatened I’m sure with more jail (essentially provoked), tased then shot.

    I think some fucking cops were after him and pissed that the dude got paid.

    Video link from a comment below. Not a good look for the guy. Hard video to watch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GrcptVf8Yk

    • foggy@lemmy.world
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      And the alleged ‘good cops’ are out here confused why no one respects them.

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        And the alleged ‘good cops’ are out here confused why no one respects them.

        Until I start running across evidence that some police are angrier about the bad cops than they are about everyone else being angry about the bad cops, I refuse to believe they exist.

        • chase_what_matters@lemmy.world
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          As someone who knew an actual good cop (grew up with him): They quit. That’s what he did. That’s all they can do. Because speaking up just ruins your career path. So they choose to go along or they change careers entirely.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            We had a “good cop” DA in my city. The cops went on strike (though they didn’t call it a strike, they just stopped doing their jobs), and started a propaganda campaign. When crime went up, people are stupid and blamed the DA. He got recalled and a police bootlicker got put in instead.

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              I’ll bet the crime rate didn’t even go up, it’s a really easy number to fabricate because no one’s looking for the evidence to back it up.

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          I’m still tickled that they have chose the idiom “a few bad apples” to describe the situation.

          Like… Y’all aware the full idiom is “A few bad apples spoils the whole bunch.”?

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        paying their union dues, which keep going up because the defense of their fellow cop’s actions are expensive… if they get caught and lose qualified immunity.

    • ZeroCool@feddit.ch
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      gets $800k compensation in August

      Ok so this whole story is fucked up beyond belief but I just want to take a minute to say holy shit, because that dollar figure is pretty messed up in and of itself. They gave him $817k. That’s $5.82/hr.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        Minimum wage plus overtime for his time in prison placed monthly into a mutual fund with 7% return for 16 years would be a little over 2.5 million dollars.

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          No, you see they subtracted room and board from him, that’s why he only got $800k.

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          Eh. We always like to think that this stuff bothers them. It doesn’t. He didn’t think twice about it. I’m sorry to paint with a broad brush, but conservatives just do not think on the same level as normal people do. They aren’t bothered by this stuff because they don’t think about any subject long enough to have deep thoughts on them. Frankly, they wouldn’t even be such an angry frothing-at-the-mouth group of people if they didn’t have all variations of media avenues telling them what to be mad about every second of every day. If not for conservative media, they’d be relatively pleasant little dipshits doing manual labor and whatever other grunt work, but instead we have this failed experiment of a nation.

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        Or $51k/yr which is representative of what he could have earned.

        Certainly doesn’t excuse the wrongful conviction but their math is a little more in tune with reality than $819k divided by (16x24x365) equals OMG.

        • Iamdanno@lemmynsfw.com
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          Until the police departments, or their unions, start paying the settlements, then the amounts don’t even matter punitively

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              It doesn’t any good to “punish” the police by awarding large sums of money to the wrongly convicted, because the taxpayers pay for it. To really add some justice, the awards should Come from the police pension funds. Then they are Incentivized to do it right. Now they don’t care, because there is little downside for them

    • Guntrigger@feddit.ch
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      Isn’t this basically what happened with the Making a Murderer guy? He was due a huge settlement from being wrongfully convicted, so they planted a bunch of evidence to put him back in jail instead.

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        The police were definitely corrupt, but that documentary is intentionally misleading.

        While some evidence may be in question, it’s important to know that Teresa Halbach’s vehicle was found on the property, along with charred pieces of her human bones in a burn pit.

        It was the last place she went, the last place she was seen, and Avery lured here there under false pretenses (Teresa was not even supposed to be meeting with Avery).

        None of this excuses any bad behaviors by the police, and that department certainly appears to be corrupt, but probably not a good example for this instance.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
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        That was my takeaway. The more fucked up part is that they dragged his nephew into it and at each man’s trial, told wildly differing stories about how the murder supposedly occurred.

    • arin@lemmy.world
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      Public execution because of jealousy? And nothing will happen to the cops?

      • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        The police will do a full investigation of themselves and find no wrong doing. After that, the murderer will return from his paid vacation, which will allow his wife for some much needed time to recover.

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              Not even then. Maybe if you’re white and rich; lots of rich white foreigners settle here, and they could go anywhere they want.

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              Oh, I see the problem. You’ve written black and brown people.

              You should know by now that they don’t count as people unless they go through a very rigorous “personhood” check, with markers such as “will they stay quiet about racism,” “will they strive to emulate rich white people in dress, speech and manner, to the detriment of their own culture,” “will they lead fully sanitized lives as wage slaves without complaint and never dabble in white collar or petty crimes that would be ignored if their skin was lighter,” and “will they silently and happily vote for rich white capitalists in politics, against their best interest”. Because clearly if they can’t follow these very generous and simple guidelines, they don’t want to be considered people, duh.

              Fuck I feel dirty having typed that out.

      • TryingToEscapeTarkov@lemmy.world
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        I always joke with my black girlfriend when she driving. I’ll say “Be careful you don’t want to get pulled over for a DWB”. She laughs, I laugh, we both die a little inside.

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          When I was younger, I worked under a Black man driving trucks through Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. Anywhere rural, it was unofficial company policy that I (a white man) was supposed to drive and pretend to be in charge. Anywhere urban, my actual boss could be himself.

          It is so incredibly fucked up.

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        Edited my comment, thanks. Very difficult to watch. I don’t love the way the interaction was handled by either of the men, though. I understand speeding is dangerous and against the law, but he began the interaction at 11. This could have gone another way, despite the apparent mental health issues the dude was clearly dealing with.

        • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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          I don’t love the way the interaction was handled by either of the men, though. I understand speeding is dangerous and against the law, but he began the interaction at 11.

          Agreed. The cop started out at 11, and the guy started out openly hostile.

          It could have gone another way, but the moment the dude attacked the officer it wasn’t going to.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      I think some fucking cops were after him and pissed that the dude got paid.

      Stop making up shit. This is tragic enough without people fantasising about the how’s and what’s.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.world
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    That cop had better be charged and jailed for the rest of his life.

    Mf’ers murdering with impunity over a traffic stop. 😡

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    Miller couldn’t comment specifically on Cure’s death but said he has represented dozens of people convicted of crimes who were later exonerated.

    “Even when they’re free, they always struggled with the concern, the fear that they’ll be convicted and incarcerated again for something they didn’t do,” he said.

    Totally understandable. I would imagine that’s kind of traumatic.

    (He was incarcerated in FL and killed in GA btw)

    Assuming this wasn’t execution…

    Cops are taught Killilogy. I gather they’re trained to protect their own life at all costs and that the public is out to kill them. Also deep seated racism^1 means they fear black men more. So they shoot at the drop of a hat (or for no reason at all).

    We really need to disarm the goddamn cops if they can’t be trained to de-escalate and control a situation without murdering civilians all the time.


    1. Did you know that early 1900s crime “statistics” were heavily biased against black people? These “statistics” established a bullshit racist narrative that black people are more prone to commit crime, which persists to this day, influencing government policies, more than a century later? (Source: The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad)
  • Rambi@lemm.ee
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    How do the police manage to murder someone in a traffic stop??? Doesn’t that just entail the police telling someone their brake lights aren’t working or ticketing them for being 5mph over the speed limit? Man I’m glad the police (and everybody else for that matter) don’t have guns in my country because that would be happening here too. That poor man and his family.

      • Rambi@lemm.ee
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        I just read the article and that is absolutely disgusting, even if the deputy’s side of the story is all true why are they allowed kill someone for “resisting arrest??” Shouldn’t they only use their gun if their life or the lives of members of the public are being threatened? I really hope that cop gets life in prison and has an extremely miserable rest of his life like the cop that murdered George Floyd, but something tells me that won’t be happening here.

        • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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          You read the article?

          He cooperated at first but became violent after he was told he was being arrested, a GBI news release said.

          The agency said preliminary information shows the deputy shocked the driver with a stun gun when he failed to obey commands, and the driver then began assaulting the deputy. The GBI said the deputy again tried using the stun gun and a baton to subdue him, then drew his gun and shot the driver when he continued to resist.

          They tried to stun him twice, use a baton, the only option left was to use the gun. I’m not saying the story is 100% true, and I don’t know what he was even arrested for in the first place, but that is exactly the kind of restrained escalation you would expect.

          Edit: Added first line of the quote for further context. Can you lot just please read the fucking article? Pick your battles, this isn’t a good one.

          • pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe
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            He was already wrongfully locked up for 16 years and they wanted him back in jail again, that’s all.

            When he quite rightfully resisted, they murdered him.

            It was 100% purposeful on the police’s part.

            • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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              He rightfully resisted arrest? Even if the arrest is unlawful, resisting arrest is clearly illegal.

              It’s a big assumption to say that they wanted him back in jail. It might be somewhat likely, but we don’t know either way. We don’t know the reason for his arrest.

              • Flambo@lemmy.world
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                Even if the arrest is unlawful, resisting arrest is clearly illegal.

                And the punishment for breaking any law is death? Or from your prior comment:

                They tried to stun him twice, use a baton, the only option left was to use the gun.

                Yeah, the gun was the only option. You definitely can’t just let someone run away for resisting arrest at a traffic stop. Even if you impound their now-abandoned car, they might go on a whole spree of resisting arrests or something.

                In case you can’t tell my tone is past sarcasm and well into disgust.

                • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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                  So it’s ok for police to let an aggressive and violent man run loose?

            • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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              But the driver wasn’t compliant though. He was first put under arrest, then became violent, then the stun gun came out. 2 tries with the stun gun, then the baton, then the gun.

              Personally I would prefer the officer didn’t have a gun, and that all handguns were banned like in other countries, but the escalation seems appropriate (at least according to the account given, no telling if it’s actually true).

              • Christer Enfors@lemm.ee
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                Controversial oppinion, perhaps: would it not have been a better option to just, give up and let him go (for now), rather than fucking shoot him? I mean, wasn’t this over a traffic stop?

                • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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                  Maybe, maybe not. If he were to then go off and commit a serious crime, people would be asking why the officer let him get away.

            • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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              You don’t have anything straight. You’re just raging and irrational.

              • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
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                What’s irrational is the fear (or possibly even hate hopefully not) that this officer had for this man.

                I’m no expert but I’m inclined to think it’s the fear that officers get indoctrinated with in training and from the media that causes these types of things. They went up to that car on high alert thinking they were in danger because their job is known for danger and they are trained that any incident could turn deadly. So they walk up ready to pull their weapons.

                • Christer Enfors@lemm.ee
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                  Yes. The man, on the other hand, had a rational fear of the cops given his history. No wonder he resisted - I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a panic reaction to being arrested. Obviously, the best outcome would have been if he had complied, I’m not saying it’s okay to resist even an illegal arrest necessarily, but sometimes you panic and react irrationally. That’s just being human.

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      He was killed in a different state. I think it’s just that Black men are killed all the time by cops.

    • Rambi@lemm.ee
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      You mean branches of government? I don’t think the police are a branch of government… I mean the executive, or the executors is a pretty good description for them, though the branch of government executive tends to execute policy not people.

  • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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    Does the police not have an independent body that reviews any time the police use their firearms? Surely it should be an automatic suspension, regardless of the reason. How does the US seem to have such a big police problem?

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      Police Unions. There’s a few Behind the Bastards podcast episodes on how they started.

    • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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      Hey @jimbolauski@lemmy.world , still think I’ve got rustled jimmies or can we see a bit more eye to eye now about my hate of the South?

      • havokdj@lemmy.world
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        only racist cops in the south

        So we just gonna act like Chicago/Detroit/NY PD doesn’t exist?

        • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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          If you’d like to discuss with me, I generally prefer people don’t try to imply that I’m saying something.

          • havokdj@lemmy.world
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            All I’m saying is that you make it seem like the south is the only place with racist law enforcement, it’s not.

            Law enforcement is racist. Laws are geared against minorities, this is a rule of fact everywhere in the US.

            • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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              As I said, you’re making implications and reading much more into it than I intended. What I said was exactly what I meant, nothing more nothing less.

              As I said, I prefer people try not to imply I’m saying something given you didn’t listen for the 2nd chance I see no reason for continue the conversation. Have a good one.

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                You’re feigning ignorance, please stop.

                After all, ignorance is no excuse for the law.

                • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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                  Yet again, you continue to assume and make an ass of yourself and me. So allow me to be clear, I’m asking you to fuck off.

                  You’re being a dick so now I’ll insist, go shove your opinion back up your ass and get fucked.

                  Come back when you learn how to listen without assumption.

      • jimbolauski@lemmy.world
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        I see I’m living in your head rent free.

        I don’t have enough detailes. I don’t like to jump to conclusions based on limited information.

          • jimbolauski@lemmy.world
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            Waiting for more details is digging in harder? I’m just not the kind of person that will get hysterical over a clickbate headline.

            • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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              If you’re waiting for more details about cops being horrible in the US, you ar have either dug into the opposite opinion, or have managed to avoid (intentionally or otherwise) a whole lot of data.

              But it’s a good guess to assume the former.

              • jimbolauski@lemmy.world
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                I’m waiting for details on this case. Did the cop have a legitimate reason to pull over Leonard Cure, did he have a reason to arrest him. The article claims Lenard resisted and continued going after the cop after he was tased but I have not seen any evidence.

                I wonder why you get so worked up about someone wanting more info instead of blindly following a narrative.

                • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                  Well, let me ask…

                  When was the last news story where you went back, got the details later, and felt the cops used too much force and deserved to be punished?

    • FrickAndMortar@lemmy.ml
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      Something to see, baby…

      Telling that the song was written as a criticism of class in America, but conservatives missed the point and ran with it as a model of what they thought America should be - little pink houses, for you and me.