Source: Jim Vondruska / Getty
Police brutality was one of the primary issues that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, with many people nationwide calling for law enforcement departments to be defunded altogether. Sadly, officers like Waukesha County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Mensah have made a strong argument against having trust in authorities.
After killing three people over the span of five years as a cop in the Wauwatosa Police Department, Mensah has just avoided charges in his most recent murder of a man sleeping in a park.
MORE: Wisconsin Cop Won’t Face Charges In Mall Shooting Death Of Black Teen
As reported by CBS 58, special prosecutors came to a decision not to charge Mensah in the killing of 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. after citing lack of evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt the 2016 shooting wasn’t lawful. Mensah has claimed self defense by stating he shot and killed Anderson Jr. due to his belief that he was reaching for a gun after finding him asleep in a car after hours in the park.
#BREAKING – No charges filed against Joseph Mensah in killing of Jay Anderson Jr. https://t.co/aPcvnDR0dk pic.twitter.com/y4I5TKcKOI
— CBS 58 News (@CBS58) June 1, 2022
More details in this unfortunate handing down of justice below, via CBS 58:
“Local prosecutors initially declined to charge Mensah in any of the deaths.
The Anderson family attorney filed a rarely used legal effort in order to get a judge to appoint special prosecutors to reexamine the case and bring charges against Mensah.
Ultimately, the prosecutors concluded they could not be able to reach a guilty verdict if they presented charges.
‘We cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mensah’s fear that Anderson was about to shoot him was unreasonable,’ the prosecutors wrote in a 25-page report of their decision. ‘Nor can we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mensah’s use of deadly force to save himself from death or great bodily harm was unreasonable.’
Judge Glenn Yamahiro said the case was complex but accepted the prosecutors’ decision.
‘I continue to believe that this entire tragedy was avoidable,’ Judge Yamahiro said. ‘That’s a separate and completely distinct question from what is provable beyond a reasonable doubt.’”
Special prosecutor Scott Hansen explained the decision further by stating, “It was overwhelming, among the whole collection of people that saw this, that if they had been in Mensah’s position, or if any reasonable person had been in Mensah’s position, they would’ve been afraid that they were about to be shot.”
The Anderson family has vowed to get justice by filing a civil lawsuit in federal court. The late man’s mother, Linda, went on record by stating herself, “I’m not finished fighting. I want Joseph Mensah in jail. So we’re going to continue to fight.”
SEE ALSO:
Arizona Cops Refused To Save Black Man Drowning, Transcripts Show: ‘I’m Not Jumping In After You’
Fired 911 Dispatcher Who Hung Up During Buffalo Shooting Blames The Caller: ‘I’m Being Attacked’
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