‘Ongoing Investigation’–Will Christopher Thompkins’ Killing Be Forgotten?

 

After nearly eight months of an ongoing investigation by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, information on Christopher Thompkins’ killing by Pittsburgh police remains scarce. Answers, scarcer still.

By Emily Beuger and Matt Stroud, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania

Will Christopher Thompkins’ killing be forgotten?

Thompkins and his ex-wife, Brenda, awoke around 4 a.m. on January 22 to someone standing beside their bed in their home near the eastern border of Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. As the intruder fled the room, Thompkins asked for Brenda’s pistol. He went downstairs to protect his mother who was sleeping on the first floor. “He was just saying, ‘My mom, my mom,’” Brenda Thompkins told TribLive. “That’s all he was worrying about.” As he went down the stairs, Brenda called 911 and went to a roof behind the house. She surmised that an alarm company may have called the police sooner, however, because when Thompkins reached his front porch, two officers with Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Police were waiting for him.

And they killed him.

Thompkins was shot dead that morning through the front door of his home by two Zone 5 cops. Brenda heard the two gunshots from the roof. Later, as police escorted her downstairs, she saw Thompkins’ body covered by a blanket on the stairs. The man who had broken into their house, Juan Brian Jeter-Clark, was handcuffed and sitting on the couch. Thompkins was pronounced dead at 4:08 a.m. “They shot the wrong guy,” Brenda told reporters.

She was right. We know that somehow in the break-in’s aftermath, those officers mistook a man defending his home and family for a burglar.

What we don’t know is how that happened — and how it might be prevented in the future.

Read more about Christopher Thompkins’ killing at ACLU-PA’s Medium page.

On to the links.

EXCERPTS
(Criminal justice news deserving of an in-depth look.)

The military surplus floodgates are open again. Photo via Flickr.

ABC27: Local police, ACLU react to renewed access to military gear”

“‘We continue to live in a moment in which there is tension between communities and the police,’ said Andy Hoover, a spokesman for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. ‘So the last thing we need right now is to give police equipment that makes them look like an occupying army.’” Meanwhile in Harrisburg, from PennLive: “Harrisburg approves police riot gear — with strings attached”

InJustice Today: “Scandal-prone DA wants prosecutors shielded from public information requests” 

“[Taylor Pendergrass, strategic counsel for the ACLU’s Smart Justice Campaign] likened the legal protections sought by [Centre County District Attorney Stacy] Parks Miller to the ones that cops enjoy across the U.S. Thanks to comprehensive union contracts, it is nearly impossible to obtain police records. They often stipulate that disciplinary histories must be removed from personnel files after a specific period of time. Lawmakers and district attorneys also have a history protecting cops from the communities they serve. In Chicago, city officials — including then State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez — actively fought the release of Laquan McDonald’s shooting footage, which they had for 13 months before it was made public. After an influx of requests for NYPD personnel records, such as disciplinary histories of officers like Eric Garner’s killer, New York City started enforcing a long-ignored state statute that exempts officers from such inquiries. That level of secrecy is ‘damaging’ and ‘debilitating’ for people who want cops to be held accountable, Pendergrass said. The same can be said for district attorneys who hide what they do from the communities they serve, but there is a burgeoning movement to make prosecutors more transparent.”

On legislation that needs to go away, from State Rep. Martina White (R-170th dist.):

“My legislation — House Bill 27 — would delay releasing the names of officers involved in shootings until 30 days have passed, or until the investigation is concluded, whichever is completed sooner. This would provide the necessary balance between the need for public transparency and the time to conduct a professional and thorough investigation.” Related: If you click over to our Medium page, you’ll notice that we’ve named the two officers who were on scene for Christopher Thompkins’ killing in Pittsburgh. We’ve done that because that’s how it should be: If you’re implicated in a killing, your name should be public while the investigation is ongoing and afterwards — especially if the killing happens while you’re working on the public’s dime. More on that from ACLU-PA here, here, here, and especially here.

HEADLINES
(Criminal justice news to be aware of.)

Back on the beat — again. Photo via Philly.com.

Pennsylvania

• Philly.com: “Fired Philly cop who shot 3 men is back on the beat”
• More Philly.com: “What Philly’s police commission needs to do to become relevant” Of note: Congratulations to ACLU-PA’s own Naiymah Sanchez for being named to Philadelphia’s Police Commission.
• Even more Philly.com: “Philly judge: FOP can challenge release of officers’ names after police shootings”
• More still from Philly.com: “Pa.’s $400M prison: More people, fewer cells; and air-conditioning”
• Newsworks: “Philly legal aid group urging colleges to stop asking applicants about criminal record”
• More Newsworks: “Feds fighting lawsuit over detention of Sierra Leone refugee in York County Prison
• Courthouse News: “Philadelphia Sues Sessions Over Sanctuary City Ban”
• Associated Press: “[Centre County] judge linked to DA facing charges gets disciplinary letter”
• TribLive: “White supremacist website finds niche in Pittsburgh”
• More TribLive: “New Kensington juvenile lifers not to be resentenced until at least November”
• Philly.com: “Juvenile lifer who turned down plea deal 30 years ago finally gets another offer”
• Sun-Gazette: “County, GEO at standstill as debate over state parolees continues”
• The Legal Intelligencer: “Pennsylvania’s Minor Judiciary Has an Ethics Problem”
• WTAE: “Pittsburgh City Council takes first steps for medical marijuana permitting process”
• Meanwhile, via ABC27: Three Chambersburg women arrested for having marijuana; $60,000 cash bail set for their release
• Beaver County Times: “Pennsylvania attorney general’s office prosecuting charges of drug-delivery deaths in Beaver County”
• WPXI: “Video shows stun gun being used on Woodland Hills student”
• Watchdog.org: “Pennsylvania in focus: Why Pa.’s Department of Corrections is a Model to Follow”

National

• ACLU-OR: “Some of Oregon’s elected district attorneys are not happy with us”
• Los Angeles Times: “California passed a law boosting police transparency on cellphone surveillance. Here’s why it’s not working”
• 9News: “Denver passes immigration ordinance restricting city cooperation with ICE” (and city council chambers erupt into applause — watch the video)
• Fair Punishment: “Prisoners on Ohio’s execution list defined by intellectual imjpairment, mental illness, trauma, and young age”
• Courthouse News: “9th Circuit Revives Inmate’s Claims of Sexual-Shame Therapy”
• Associated Press: “California court to halt license suspensions of poor drivers”
• Bloomberg: “Tech Industry Could Aid Successful Prisoner Reentry”
• SCOTUSblog: “Justices add prisoner fees case to merits docket”
• ACLU: “Why Are Border Sheriffs Rushing to Adopt Iris-Recognition Technology?”
• 10 News (Tampa, Florida): “Lawmakers to address ‘debtor’s prison’ for unpaid traffic tickets”
• The Sentencing Project: “U.S. private prisons incarcerated 126,272 people in 2015, representing 8% of the total state and federal prison population.”
• Harvard Kennedy School: “Less Is More: How Reducing Probation Populations Can Improve Outcomes”
• New York Times: “Illinois Attorney General Sues Chicago Over Police Practices”
• Voice of San Diego: “Border Patrol Says it Doesn’t Use Race as a Factor for Stops, But Won’t Say What it Does Look for”
• Vice: “ICE Plans to Destroy Records of Abuse, Sexual Assault in Immigrant Detention Centers”
• Washington Post: “Essay: The problem of innocence in death penalty cases”
• More Washington Post: “The emperor of junk science forensics has died”
• More WaPo: “Federal judge blocks Texas’ harsh anti-sanctuary law”

Trump Criminal Justice Watch

• Vox: “Trump’s plan to give police easier access to military weapons, explained”
• The White House: “Presidential Executive Order on Restoring State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement’s Access to Life-Saving Equipment and Resources” (ACLU’s response)
• Crime and Justice News via the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University: “ICE Detainer Requests Rose Sharply Under Trump”
• Washington Post: “How the pardon power could end Trump’s presidency”
• More Washington Post: “Legal challenge to Arpaio pardon begins”
• CNN: “This chart shows why Trump’s pardon of Arpaio was so unusual”
• Slate: “There Are Many Joe Arpaios: The former Arizona sheriff is famous for his abhorrent behavior. He’s not an anomaly.”
• The Federalist: “Sorry, Jeff Sessions, But We’re Just Not Experiencing A Drug Crime Wave”
• Politico: “Outgoing sheriff Clarke expected to take job in Trump administration”

Et cetera

• The Onion: “ACLU Representative Explains How Some Of Record-Breaking Fundraising Will Go Toward Defending Rights Of Weirdos To Have Sex With Trees”
• Los Angeles Times: “Friend of Robert Durst admits conferring with wife while she was on witness stand was ‘inadvisable'”
• YES! Magazine: “Inside the ACLU: Defending White Supremacists as a Black Attorney”
• New longform podcast and story from Bay Area News Group: “Hanging: The Mysterious Case of the Boy in the Barn”
• The Cut: “What Heather Heyer Knew”

The Appeal is a weekly newsletter keeping you informed about criminal justice news in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond. It is written and compiled by Matt Stroud, ACLU-PA’s criminal justice researcher.

Many thanks to ACLU-PA’s summer criminal justice interns, Andrew Arslanpay, Emilia Beuger, and Midge Carter. You all did a phenomenal job this summer. We accomplished a lot together.

If you, dear reader, know someone who’d like to intern at ACLU-PA (or if you would like to intern yourself), have a look at this description. We seek smart, inquisitive people like Andrew, Emilia, and Midge to join our team. And it’s a fun opportunity! There’s a good possibility you’ll be sent off to legal proceedings, or contentious public meetings, or to the file rooms of middle-of-nowhere Magisterial District Judges to poke around. We’re also equal-opportunity, dress- code-free, and inclusive. Women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, veterans — everyone, really: You’re all strongly encouraged to apply.

If you have suggestions for links or criminal justice-related work that you’d like to highlight in The Appeal, or if you have suggestions for ways that we might improve, please email Matt at mstroud@aclupa.org. And if someone forwarded this email to you, and you’d like to receive it every Friday, you can subscribe here.

This newsletter is governed by ACLU-PA’s privacy policy, which you can read here.