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Corrales and Diego heard a loud noise while driving in their patrol car and turned around to see Washington. The officers said the 27-year-old was looking around suspiciously and manipulating something in his waist area.

When the officers tried to stop Washington to investigate, he quickly approached them and seemed to pull something from his waistband, Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger told reporters at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

[...]

ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Ramona Ripston said the organization was deeply troubled by the shooting.

"The initial news coverage of the incident shed little light on why lethal force was necessary when officers were not responding to any report of criminal activity and had no reason to suspect Mr. Washington of a crime just because they heard a loud noise as they were driving past," Ripston said in a statement.

Corrales und Diego hörten laute Geräusche als sie mit ihrem Streifenwagen fuhren, drehten um und sahen Washington. Die Beamten sagten der 27jährige schaute verdächtig umher und fingerte in der Gegen seines Hosenbundes herum.

Als die Polizisten versuchten ihn dazu zu bringen diese Bewegungen zu unterlassen kam dieser schnell kam er schnell auf sie zu und schien etwas aus seinem Hosenbund zu ziehen gab Vizepolizeichef Earl Paysinger auf einer Pressekonferenz am Samstag gegenüber Reportern an.

[...]

Die Geschäftsführerein von ACLU Southern California, Ramona Ripston sagte die Organisation sei sehr verärgert wegen dieser Schüsse.

"Die erste Berichterstattung zum Vorfall erhellt wenig, wieso es nötig war tödliche Schüsse abzugeben, obwohl die Polizisten nicht zu einem Vebrechen gerufen worden waren und kein Grund bestand Mr Washington eines Verbrechens zu verdächtigen, nur weil laute Geräusche zu hören waren als sie vorbeifuhren." sagte Ripston in einer Stellungnahme.

Almost unbelievably, a jury just awarded two Los Angeles police officers nearly 4 million dollars. The two had shot and killed an unarmed, autistic African American man back in 2010.

A lawsuit had been filed by both Officer George Diego and Officer Allan Corrales, against their department. They claimed that they were “discriminated” against after shooting Steven Eugene Washington.

The lawsuit contends that their restriction to desk duty after the shooting was “a retaliatory act” and “discrimination” against them.

It seems almost impossible to believe, but the jury agreed with them and awarded the two nearly $2 million dollars each. That broke down to $1.9 million dollars to Officer Diego and $2 million to Officer Corrales.

Chief Charlie Beck said that the idea that the two were placed on desk duty because they are Latino – as the suit alleges – is preposterous. They were, instead, placed on desk duty because they shot an innocent, unarmed man – an African American man at that, he added. This made them a potential liability, and that alone accounted for the desk duty, not anti-Latino racism.

The victim of the two officers had an IQ of 40, which accounted for his walking with a blank stare. But instead of properly assessing the situation and the individual, the two opened fire, killing Washington.

The 27-year-old man with autism was killed on March 20, 2010 for nothing more than that “blank stare,” according to an internal investigation report. They said that this look indicated “suspicious activity.”