Black Teenager Killed by Minneapolis Police --- Mother calls for county attorney to act

The mother of a 15-year-old boy fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer has challenged Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar to decide whether to file charges against the officer rather than leave that decision up to a grand jury. "Prosecute this man, and make that decision yourself, and then be accountable to the people for it," Tahisha Brewer wrote in the letter dated Nov. 23. Brewer's son, Courtney Williams, was fatally shot by officer Scott Mars just after midnight Oct. 24 as a foot chase ended in the 3000 block of Knox Av. N. in the Jordan neighborhood. According to a search warrant affidavit in the case, Mars repeatedly yelled for Williams to stop. He fired when the boy stopped, turned and raised an arm, the affidavit said. Statements attributed to Mars say Williams was holding a "silver-colored handgun," although relatives and friends who were with him the night of the shooting continue to dispute that, an aunt said Thursday night. The investigation is continuing and has not yet been scheduled to go before a grand jury. Letting a grand jury determine whether charges should be filed against police officers involved in fatal shootings is not required by law and is a completely discretionary decision of prosecutors. Prosecutors can elect to bring charges instead.Brewer alludes in her letter, and others have said, that there is too much secrecy surrounding grand juries. "I want this process out in the open, where everyone can observe it and make sure that it is fair to my son," she wrote.  "We want to make sure that they are interviewing all the people they are supposed to, because we know they haven't." said Ella Davis-Suggs, Brewer's sister.  Michelle Gross, vice president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said that grand juries benefit police officers in cases such as Williams' death. "The jury's decision is based on how good a case the prosecutors want to bring to the jurors," she said. Because the presentations aren't open to public scrutiny, she said, they are easily slanted. [more]

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