Ashtian Barnes was murdered during a traffic stop for unpaid toll fees. The officer that killed him was granted qualified immunity, which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court. Seeking accountability in the death of Ashtian Barnes, Cato Institute, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, and CPE filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court:
Cato, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), and the Center for Policing Equity filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision. The common law the Fourth Amendment is based on protected human life by limiting when officers could use deadly force. They couldn’t kill someone just for fleeing from being arrested for petty charges. Officers could only use deadly force to defend themselves if someone forcefully resisted them.
After 9/11, he said, there was heightened scrutiny of the Muslim community that in hindsight was not justified.
“There is no question in my mind that people were inappropriately targeted in that time,” said Burbank, who is now with the Center for Policing Equity. “Gas stations that were owned by people who were sending money back to family in the Middle East,” for instance.
Like other host cities before it, Burbank said, L.A. will work closely with the Olympic Committee, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement partners for the Games.
“We created, in essence, the largest law enforcement agency in the state of Utah in history,” he said.
Read the article on Cato’s website.