A former policeman in the US state of Minnesota has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for fatally shooting an unarmed woman who was trying to report a possible crime.
Mohamed Noor shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond as she approached his patrol car to report a possible rape behind her Minneapolis home in July 2017.
He said the shooting was a mistake.
In court, Ms. Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk, called the killing “an obscene act by an agent of the state”.
“Justine’s death has left me incomplete – it is as if I have lost a limb or a leg,” he said in an impact statement.
Image caption
Ms. Damond was due to marry a month after the shooting
Ms. Damond’s fiance, Don Damond, read an emotional statement addressed directly to her.
“Dear Justine, I miss you so much every day, every moment,” he said. “I don’t understand how such a thing could happen to you and to us.”
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Noor is the first Minnesota police officer to be found guilty of murder for an on-duty shooting. At his sentencing on Friday, the 33-year-old apologized for taking Ms. Damond’s life.
“I caused this tragedy and it is my burden,” he told the court. “I wish though that I could relieve that burden others feel from the loss that I caused. I cannot, and that is a troubling reality for me.”
Some in the Somali-American community – Noor is Somali – have argued that the case was treated differently than police shootings involving white officers and black victims.
Activists outside the courthouse Friday carried signs reading “No double standard” and “NOOR: Victim of Identity Politics.”
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Some Somali-Americans protested at the court
Noor said he opened fire on the 40-year-old yoga instructor because he feared that he and his partner were being ambushed.
He said he made the “split-second decision” after hearing a loud bang and seeing Ms. Damond with her right arm raised.
The police officers had been called to the area to respond to a 911 call made by Ms. Damond about the suspected sexual assault.
Noor was convicted in April of second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder, but acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder with intent to kill.
Ms Damond, a US-Australian dual citizen originally from Sydney, was engaged and due to marry a month after the shooting.
Media caption Justine Damond’s family hold a silent vigil at a beach in Sydney in 2017
She had adopted the surname of her fiancé, Don Damond, ahead of their wedding.
Her death drew international criticism, with Australia’s then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull describing it as “inexplicable”.
Her family was promised $20m (£15.5m) in compensation by the US city of Minneapolis last month. They said they would donate $2m towards fighting gun crime.
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Opinion Black can’t be scared like a white officer. We have to be smarter and better than the white man. We sure can not kill a white person and not pay for it. If the slave was defending his master against another white man and he saved his master from death. They would kill the slave. This mess has been going on since time. That is why the cut Nat turner up in pieces and buried him all over the united states. They would start killing anybody who looked like they would fight back.400 years of slavery was ingrained in our DNA and still is. We still lock for praise from our master. Look at the Oscars and Grammy: Remember Amber Guyer shot a black man in his house and got five years and hugs. I knew when the black officer made a mistake he would pay. Like slaves protecting his master would. His partner threw him under the bus. There is no protection or code of silence for black officers they pay for wrongs. George Floyd and Mohamed Noor the same city. Damn.
The difference:
No hugs:
Real Remorse:
George Floyd same city:
Compassion towards; This officer
White women tears:
the differce:
