A judge dismissed all charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot a driver last month.
Mark Dial shot 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a traffic stop on Aug. 14.
Dial and his partner, Officer Michael Morris, say they had been pursuing Irizarry for driving erratically and turning the wrong way down a one-way street. Morris testified that Irizarry had a knife in his hand and had started to raise it as the officers approached.
During a hearing, Dial’s lawyers argued he acted in self-defense because he believed the knife Irizarry had was a gun. Brian McMonagle, one of his lawyers, said his client was justified in shooting as he was trying to take cover and had feared for his life during the incident.
“Every tragedy is not a crime,” McMonagle said.
Initial statements from the police department said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but the department later walked back these statements.
Still, McMonagle said the charges, which included manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts, never should have been filed given the evidence.
“I agree with you 100 percent,” Judge Wendy Pew responded before tossing all charges Tuesday, per the Associated Press.
“Every tragedy is not a crime,” McMonagle said defending a criminal murderer who totally done did a criminal murder.
How is it possible that there is zero legal consequence for this: “Initial statements from the police department said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but the department later walked back these statements.”
I highlight this because I would struggle to think of a controversial case where video confirmed police statements about what happened (the only one I can think of is that poor young girl with the knife in Ohio), but time after time after time we see police statements later proven to be blatant falsehoods and it seems to not matter whatsoever. (Walter Scott is the first example that penetrated my consciousness, but I know there have been many more.)
Why is there no consequence (ever, as far as I can tell) for police fabrication of events?
because cops have a literal history of rioting and murder when you try to hold them accountable.
So the only time anything ever gets done is when its caught on 3rd party camera and creates so much ruckus that the police officer is sacrificed to protect the greater corruption of the department and their political pawns.
What the actual fuck?! When I read this story a month ago I was furious because they claimed he was out of the car and lunging at them with a knife when they shot him through a closed car window. Mistaking someone for being out of the car and lunging at you when they are inside the car with the window rolled up is not the same as (claiming to) think a knife is a gun. So, you get to lie about what you were scared about and then revise your lie to something more plausible later on? So much fucking bullshit.
Also, it should be noted that the police only “walked back” the statement about him being out of the car when the family went door to door and found ring cam footage that he was in the car. And they had to do this because the police wouldn’t share body camera footage with the family.
I’m curious if there’s a similar situation where a civilian shot an officer because he was scared for his life and ended being dismissed in court for self defense.
I do think theres been one or two cases where cops executed a warrant on the wrong house, and the home owner defended themselves, and not only survived but was found to have done no wrong, but I cant find the magic word combination to find anything but innumerable news stories about charges being dropped against cops.
Right now there’s a murder trial nearby me wherein a man and his girlfriend were at his brother’s house, somebody broke in and the man shot at the invaders, but the invaders turned out to be police executing a no-knock warrant at the house… well when he shot, they shot back, and they fatally injured the man’s girlfriend. Now he’s on trial for her murder instead of the police who did the botched and unconstitutional raid, resulting in her death by police gunfire. Absolute joke of a justice system.
Remember.
Cops can be terrified, hyper reactionary cowards who jump to lethal force over every imagined crinkle of leaves, and we must have understanding about how hard things are for them.
Bu non-police must be calm, collected, highly trained, vigilant and absolutely stoic in the most extreme, and must execute a detailed 5 page analysis on the situation before they can dare to act, because they should know better.
Actually of all people Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend.
I’m as F12 as you can get, but it does happen. Of course, you have to live first, which is unlikely when you defend yourself against cops.
Initial statements from the police department said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but the department later walked back these statements.
Departments lying about officer-involved shootings should be a separately-prosecutable crime.
I hope any person who has to go to trial and this officer is called as a witness uses this as an example as to why they arent a good witness.
“Officer, in 2023 you fatally shot a man after you said he got out of his car and lunged at you with a knife. You later backtracked on this and said he was in his car with the windows up. How can we trust what you have to say if you can’t remember what happened then?”
There’s actually a registry of cops who have been shown to lie so that their testimony can be disregarded. I hope there’s someone out there who makes this happen for this cop.
Keep denying justice to people and they will start to take it upon themselves to see it done. I personally don’t want to see lynch mobs, but if a few pigs have to swing for them to get the message they brought it on themselves
Time for the Feds to swoop in & charge this asshole as they did for Breona Taylor’s murderers.
I hope the prosecution files an appeal but I also won’t hold my breath on that happening.
#ACAB
If a police officer can’t tell the difference between a knife and a gun, they shouldn’t be a police officer.
Why would some “innocent” person be lifting a knife at all, let alone to a cop?
We going to pretend that knives aren’t deadly? Especially at close range?
No one should be (unless they want to violently uphold a white supremacist system while pretending they are “protecting” people).
It is worse than that. They can’t tell if a person is inside a car or outside a car lunging at them. They clearly lied to cover up their incompetence. This person should not be a cop.
Growing up, I thought “street justice” would be more of a thing. Apparently people don’t take an eye for an eye.
fuck that judge, fuck that cop
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