From [HERE] A state judge has ordered Louisiana State Police to release records related to a 2021 shooting of a man that has spurred wrongful death and excessive force lawsuits. 

LSP has until early November to respond to nine public records requests submitted by Malikah Asante-Chioke, who was seeking information related to the shooting of her father, Jabari Asante-Chioke. According to news reports, a passerby saw him in distress, walking along a highway, carrying what was later determined to be a gun and a knife. 

Jabari Asante-Chioke, 52, was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and was shot 36 times. 

The Louisiana ACLU, which is representing Malikah Asante-Chioke, said the killing amounted to a “firing squad” and was an unjustifiably excessive use of fatal force. The ACLU said many of the shots struck Jabari Asante-Chioke after he was disarmed and seriously wounded.

Malikah Asante-Chioke’s public records requests pertained to her father’s shooting, personnel files of the involved officers and training materials related to interacting with people experiencing mental health issues. 

On November 21, 2021 Mr. Asante-Chioke, a 52-year-old Black man, was spotted by a concerned citizen at the intersection of Airline Drive and North Causeway Boulevard in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Mr. Asante-Chioke was visibly distressed and was traveling along the highway on foot carrying in his hands what was later identified as a gun and a knife. The passer-by who saw Mr. Asante-Chioke thought he might be experiencing a mental health crisis and subsequently flagged down a police officer directing traffic around a nearby construction site.

What happened next was a tragedy that ended in a firing squad when Louisiana State Police and East Jefferson Levee District Police officers shot Mr. Asante-Chioke over twenty-four times. The ill-trained, ill-disciplined, and ill-supervised officers failed to de-escalate the encounter and failed to use less-than-lethal methods in accordance with their training and with state and federal law to subdue Mr. Asante-Chioke. The shooting was an unjustifiably excessive application of deadly force, with many of the gunshots suffered by Mr. Asante-Chioke impacting him after he was disarmed, heavily wounded, and incapacitated. Mr. Asante-Chioke’s weapon was unloaded. He never fired a shot.

This is just one more example of how police encounters with people of color often end with fatal shootings, and quick police officers are to use deadly force when people of color are involved. LSP is currently under a “a pattern and practice” investigation by the United States Department of Justice for engaging in racially motivated and discriminatory policing and excessive force. The Complaint brings 42 USC Section 1983 excessive force, wrongful death, and negligence claims against the officers, as well as a negligent supervision and training claim against the Superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, Colonel Lamar A. Davis, the Chief of the East Jefferson Levee District Police, Robert Garner, and the State of Louisiana. The case is currently pending before the Eastern District Court of Louisiana.

The defendants in this case are:

• Nicholas Dowdle, Louisiana State Police Officer.

• Jonathon Downing, East Jefferson Levee District Police Officer.

• Gerard Duplessis, East Jefferson Levee District Police Officer.

• Col. Lamar A. Davis, Superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.

• Chief Robert Garner, Chief of the East Jefferson Levee District Police Department.

• The State of Louisiana through the Department of Public Safety & Corrections [MORE]

“This is a victory for Malikah, and for the rights of all Louisianans,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana. “The law is clear: members of the public have the right to access public records, a right that is guaranteed by our state constitution and by our Public Records Law. That right must be respected.”