Should it seem odd to you that out of 13 police cars, from three different departments, 12 of them just so happened to have "non-functional" dash cams? Oh, what about the 13th squad car? No where near the shooting.

He bought the weapons from a Walmart? They have good security cameras there. Oh well I'm sure those just happened to not be working at the time right?

Any Judge that over looks these bizzar happenings, should be stripped of his title and good name.

Dear Kaiyewu's family,

My name is Bret Martin; I had the privilege of being Toto’s Sugar Land Cowboys football coach. I am truly sorry for your families lost and cannot even imagine what you are going through. I would like everyone to know Toto was truly a wonderful young man to know and coach. In addition, I would like people to know that I have never seen Toto do or say anything disrespectful to other people, not to mention police officers.  I always knew Toto to be very kind and thoughtful young man to others. As his coach, he always did what we asked him to do without question. In my mind, it is very hard for me to picture Toto not listening to the police officers. Something is very wrong with this picture. 

Thank you, coach Martin  

It took two weeks for the police to answer questions from the Kaiyewu family.

Only after they drove here from Texas and staged a press conference did the police respond to them.

As the family stated at the press conference, they were initially told by police there was no video - only a camera at the final scene from a squad car that was behind other cars.

Now the police say they have video from the Villa Grove officer who did the initial stop.

What is on the video remains to be seen.

Some forthright answers to the family would end some of the speculation.

We still don't have the names of the officers involved - this is quite unusual.

BD

Other than the fact that the initial contact with police was in a small town and Mr. Kaiyewu, what is the basis for calling this a "Racial Profiling Incident"? If a white student stopped his car in the middle of the street for no apparent reason, the police would attempt to talk to that student as well. If that student attacked the police with knives, he also would be shot.  Calling this racial profiling is unfounded and insulting to people of color.

The fact that the names of the officers have not been released is not unusual, especially considering all the conspiracy theories out there.  They likely will be released once the full report is out.  Given the fact that they are being called murders and on forums while the fact that Mr. Kaiyewu assaulted an officer, fled, then attacked the the police with two large knives is being completely ignored, I think it would be dangerous to release their names before the full story is out.  Is the general consensus on this page that 12 officers from 4 different departments are all making up a story?  Does that make any sense at all?

Finally, the cameras weren't malfunctioning.  None of the cars even have them.  The police would very much prefer all cars have cameras.  If you support the cars having cameras, then donate the $4400/car to have them installed.

$6.8 million for the clock tower.

No money for cameras?

BD

You refer to the cops as "the department".  There are a total of 5 departments involved: Villa Grove, Champaign County Vermillion County, and U of I who were all at the scene.  Then there's the Illinois State Police who are investigating.  This is where I find conspiracy hard to believe.  All 12 cops conspired?  The State Police are covering it up?  Really?  That's ridiculous.  I think it's horrible and heartbreaking that this young man died.  The hatred of police officers in this country is terrifying.  All cops are not racist.  All cops are not power hungry.  And, there is no way that 12 cops from different departments all decided to cover up a murder. 

And, DB- I agree the County should have cameras-- the county deputies do as well.  However, they can't snap their fingers and make it happen-- don't blame the police for them not having cameras, blame the administrators who won't pay for them.  I am sure that every cop who was present that night wishes even more than we do that they did have cameras to capture what happened.

I agree there are racist cops in this country, but to assume every tragic outcome is soley based on racism is juvenile.  I suppose a white guy would have been allowed to sit in the middle of the highway as long as he wanted.  Did it ever occur to anyone that the cop may have just approached the car to see if Mr. Kaiyewu was having car trouble. 

If all cops truly hated people of color as much as the people on this site hate cops, we'd really have a tragic situation in the US.  Do you see any value to police officers at all?

Think. Cops shoot black man- med student even.

Think. Cops know there is going to be flack about such a thing.

Think. How are cops are trained to process any incident?

Think. What would absolve the cops from the "wild speculation" in the media?

So the bottom line for me is,....where is the machete with Kaiyewu's fingerprints on it?

If Kaiyewu was lunging at officers, swinging a machete at them, there should be no problem producing such a piece of evidence.

I shudder even writing this, knowing the cops will read this and could begin fabricating this piece of evidence. It remains incomprehensible that the first people to see this evidence should be the family of Kaiyewu, and they have not, even though the cops would want to prove to the family that their story is what happened.

This is a public relations disaster. With police in control of all information, Kaiyewu's clothes, the body, and officers needing an excuse for what happened, any story from the police now is open to doubt. I would hope that between all the agencies involved, a few officers would be honest about this. Unfortunately, the threat of expensive civil lawsuits and job termination, and in-house blackballing rule the day from the police perspective. Certainly, the cops have no regard for Kaiyewu, the family, nor honest accountability. What is certain is the police must be considered armed (duh) and dangerous (surprise). I, for one, will be very afraid whenever a cop pulls behind me, knowing that any resistance will produce what the police are being trained to be: killers of anyone who would defy them in the least.

I still don't understand how a simple traffic stop of a promising med student became all this. Blaming Kaiyewu, as has been done ("Mr. Kaiyewu determined the outcome"), does not account for the need to shoot dead to center against someone they claim brought a knife to a gun fight. That is if anyone ever did attack them with knifes and swords. I guess Villa Grove can be happy now: there will be even less blacks going to their city and the county roads won't have the "problem" of "suspicious" black males actually driving cars on them. What a shame this is.    

The fishiest part of the story is the Villa Grove cop who followed the "suspicious" car. A Camry with a black man in it, you mean? But if the rest of the story is true -- the knives and all that -- then this is an unfortunate incident for a number of reasons. Unfortunate because of the vile and institutional racism of the Villa Grove and Champaign County Police, which I have witnessed before, and unfortunate because of the very poor decision the student made to fight back physically.

sad just sad

When are we going to find out what happened? Are the police just trying to allow time to pass so that people and the media begin to forget about this? Are they just trying to sweep this under the carpet?

Out with the truth already!! How long does it take?

Should questions be asked and answered? Yes, but do not take the silence as guilt. At first I read all these acocunts and it scared and outraged me. But then I thought the details are not all clear, the investigation is not finished. I do not really believe this has anything to do with profiling. I could be mistaken, but time will tell. I am not a poice officer, not friends or family of any. But I did at one time come close to becoming one. My decision not to is due to the risks they face. They never know if they might be faced with a dangerous situation and they don't get paid nearly enough. We only seem to hear this type of story spread, not so much the ones whom have been hurt or even killed in the line of duty. I think it is disgraceful of the media and other people to sit in judgement before any real facts or investigation has been done. How are all these officers supposed to have covered this up. Very unlikely that they might all be involved. It is just not feasable that they could all be involved. Why not wait until this investigation is finsihed. The reason the officers cannot speak about it is that it is not allowed from  my understanding, and also might safety play a part? Come on people, wait for the facts before you make a judgement.It is only fair. It seems to me that much of this has been overdone and that the police are being thrown under the bus. No one mentions the dangers they face daily, or that they could actually be in the right. If it is true and this young man did come at them with a knife or weapon, then it is justified. I doubt in the pursuit they actually said to one another.. Hmmm lets park the only car that has a camera here, it is more likely that the car had been stopped to pursue in a rush and no set up exists. Please use you brains if you have them and stop beating up on people that may have in fact just done their jobs. The truth shall come out and then you can judge.

It's been a month and still no word from the Illinois State Police.

BD

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/05/04/vermilion_prosecutor_h...

BD-- it's not the job of the Illinois State Police to present their findings to the public.  It's their job to present their findings to the State's Attorney, which they have done.  A month is not a long time for an investigation involving so many people, 4 different departments, civilian witnesses, etc. I'd much prefer a thorough and accurate investigation than one in which key facts or witnesses are overlooked in order to statisfy the media and conspiracy theorists.

It's been more than six weeks now.
What is the Vermillion County doing?

Please understand we aren't concerned with trying this in the media, or rush the process.
We want the family to get some answers to the reason their sun was killed.

BD

A press conference is being held by the Vermilion County State's Attorney on Wednesday, May 27 at 1:30 pm.

It will be held at the County Board building on the second floor.

BD

What happended was tragic, but referring to this as Racial Profiling and posting all this about Villa Grove being a "sundown town" etc. is inflammatory and detracts completely from the actual story.  What evidence does Mr. Doliner have that justifies calling this racial profiling?  Simply that it started in a small town?  Isn't that hypocritical to stereotype the Villa Grove police officer while at the same time claiming the Villa Grove police officer stereotyped Mr. Kaiyewu?  Why is there no mention of the reports that Mr. Kaiyewu's car was stopped in the middle of a highway?  That he was aggressive when approached.  This is a terrible situation, but  it's fair to not only question the authorities, but also to question why Mr. Kaiyewu didn't simply explain that he was having car trouble, or lost, or not feeling well, or whatever the reason may have been that he was stopped in the middle of the highway.  Why didn't he stop in Urbana at the Walmart-- a well-lit, public area, if he was afraid or comply with police commands to drop the 2-3 foot long machete he was swinging like a bat?   These are the dots I would like to see connected.  He had several opportunities to avoid this tragic outcome and chose instead to, in my opinion, commit suicide.  He's an intelligent, educated man.  He has to know that lurching at armed officers with a huge, deadly knive is going to result in shots being fired.  Personally, I think he had a mental breakdown.  The medical school he went to is less than 10 years old, doesn't qualify for federal student financial aid, and is a for-profit institution.  Medical school is stressful enough without the burden of huge amounts of debt in private loans (unless he happend to be independently wealthy).  People have breakdowns and do terrible things.  To call this racial profiling is inaccurate and, frankly, weakens Mr. Doliner's credibility.

The last I heard, the death penalty should not result from:

* car trouble

* a mental breakdown

* bringing a knife to a gun fight (especially when the odds are something like 12 to 1)

While it's nice to continue to come up with rationalizations for the behavior of the police that place all the blame for their actions onto Mr. Kaiyewu, as a taxpayer and a citizen I expect those who act under the color of authority and law to take a more studied and circumspect approach to their duties.

I realize that there are those who will always see the police as not responsible for any action they might take. The responsibility of police is to de-esecalate stressful situations. I'm afraid that claiming the they need only make nothing but the most superficial effort toward that end is good enough. To expect nothing better than "good enough" when it comes to their conduct is a disservice to the public and to throughful police work.

I'm at a loss over what to say about people who think that because Mr Kaiyewu was attending something other than the UI Medical School, it was at all relevant to determining the outcome of this incident.

Having been through Villa Grove nuermous times and heard from some of its citizens about what is a widely-known history, I don't see how it's so easy to dismiss the relevance of its lergacy when this is raised as an issue. This does not excuse any over-reaction by Mr. Kaiyewu, but should give anyone pause when they hear the issue blithely dismissed by someone. The notion that it's "any parent's nightmare" -- as was said in other news reports -- is to ask that any parent simply accept that if their son or daughter makes the "wrong" choices when upset, they should accept that the killing of their offspring is somehow legitimate and the only option available.

Apparently, the disingenuous slogan that the police are here "to serve and protect" is now the belief of a simpleton. I think this says much more about the mindset of certain all too predictable comments than it does about Mr. Dolinar's credibility. At least he's asking the right questions, even if the low state of expectations about police behavior leads some to believe that less reporting on such issues is what's needed, rather than increased public scrutiny.

No one said car trouble or any other reason above warrants the death penalty.  However, this situation could have ended in Villa Grove if Mr. Kaiyewu would have engaged in a conversation with the officer instead of assaulting the officer. I am interested to know how the officer should have responded to a car stopped in the middle of the highway b/c it sounds like merely approaching the vehicle is reason to be accused of racial profiling.  From what's been reported, it doesn't appear the officer even had an opportunity to speak to Mr. Kaiyewu before being assaulted.  If he did, and if someone has some documentation of what he said-- then perhaps I could buy racial profiling.  But, calling this racial profiling simply based on the history of the town (when numerous other towns have similar histories-- including my hometown, where my African-American friends were treated very respectfully by the police), is baseless.  It appears there are many assumptions being made about what the officer may have said or done, but no  acknowledgement that Mr. Kaiyewu may have some personal responsibility here.  If my car were stalled in the highway, I would expect a police officer who became aware of the incident to respond to me.  If I stopped because I was lost, I would be thankful for some directions.  We do not know why Mr. Kaiyewu stopped, and I am not sure what the expectation should be of hte officer who responded-- should he have just directed traffic around and ignored him?  Then, wouldn't we be asking why the officer didn't help Mr. Kaiyewu? 

As for the medical school-- as a mental health professional, I  do find this relevant as financial strain is often a factor in mental health crises.  I did some research on this school-- $50,000 is private loans is a lot of money.  As for Mr. Kaiyewu's mental state, his family says he had no mental issues, but they would not be aware if Mr. Kaiyewu ever sought psychiatric treatment.  And, even if he never did, that does not mean he couldn't have snapped recently.  Several mental illnesses first present in the early 20's for males. 

As for bringing knives to a gun fight-- it did not become a "gun fight" until Mr. Kaiyewu charged officers with a 3 ft long machete.  I am interested to know how the previous poster would respond to being charged with a knive.  The DID try to de-escalate the situation and only resorted to deadly force when charged.  Even then only 3 officers fired. 

I do hope that there were lessons learned from the situation by all individuals involved, and expect lessons were learned.  However, what frustrates me is that few people on this site are acknowledging that Mr. Kaiyewu had any personal responsibility for what happened.  Of course, I don't think he deserved to die or should have had to die, but he certainly had numerous opportunities to resolve this situation peacefully.  Police are not mental health professionals, but are trained to resolve conflict peacefully.  Sometimes citizens choose not to do the same.

A report on today's news conference by the Vermilion County State's Attorney is available at:

http://www.ucimc.org/content/states-attorney-brinegar-and-vermilion-county-press-conference-05-27-09-regarding-death-tot-0

Where is the tape?

No charges for cop who shot machete-wielding man

• Story
• Discussion

BY ADAM TESTA, The Southern | Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:53 am | (5) Comments

CARBONDALE - A Carbondale police officer who shot a machete-wielding man four times in January will not face criminal charges for his actions.

Jackson County State's Attorney Michael Wepsiec said Thursday an investigation by his office and the Illinois State Police determined the officer acted appropriately when he shot Jimmy Ray Nelson in a residence on North Robert A. Stalls Avenue in the early hours of Jan. 20.

Police received a 911 call reporting a domestic disturbance at the residence involving Nelson and Marissa Porter-Lilly, Wepsiec said. The two had been involved in multiple domestic disturbances in the past, and Porter-Lilly filed an order of protection against Nelson in February 2008 but let it lapse. Nelson also had prior convictions, including armed robbery involving the discharge of a firearm and battery.

En route to the scene, police learned that Nelson was intoxicated and wielding a machete, Wepsiec said. When they arrived, police identified themselves multiple times and requested Nelson drop the weapon. When he did not comply, one of three officers on the scene used pepper spray to no avail. Nelson's blood alcohol level was .252, more than three times the legal limit, at the time of the incident, Wepsiec said.

Nelson turned toward Porter-Lilly and the 2-year-old child she was holding, Wepsiec said. The unnamed officer determined Nelson to be an immediate threat to the woman and her child and fired four shots, all of which hit Nelson. One shot went through his neck, while the others hit his arm and chest.

"I do not believe any criminal charges should be filed against the officer involved," Wepsiec said, noting the investigation wielded significant cause for use of deadly force. "This was a dangerous and volatile situation."

Nelson has been released from the hospital and requires additional medical attention as a result of the incident. Once his medical treatment is complete, he will be served with a warrant for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated assault.

The three officers who were involved have returned to duty after being placed on paid administrative leave while the incident was under investigation.