Posted on 07/26/2010 2:29:21 PM PDT by marktwain
LAS VEGAS -- Family and friends of the man gunned down by police officers two weeks ago outside a Costco in Summerlin are taking their message to the streets.
Erik Scott, 38, died after three police officers fired seven bullets into him. Police said Scott had a gun aimed at them, but some witnesses said they either didn’t see a gun in Scott’s hand or it was in its holster.
Scott, a West Point graduate, had a permit to carry a concealed firearm, family and friend said.
On Friday at midnight, seven billboards will start to display the first of several messages in the hopes of finding out the truth behind Scott’s shooting death.
“It's what friends do,” said Scott’s friend, Mike Pusateri. “They help find the truth. That's what we're doing.”
Pusateri and other friends of Scott have spent $3,000 on a series of digital messages targeting witnesses who were at the Summerlin Costco when Scott was shot.
“We're hoping they'll come off the fence and let their voices be heard on behalf of Erik,” Pusateri said.
Since Scott’s death, friends launched a website and a Facebook group dedicated to Scott’s memory.
More than 570 people have already joined the Facebook group, and some have made donations in support of the billboard campaign.
But Pusateri said the billboards aren’t accusing anyone.
“We're not going after anybody,” he said. “We're not going after Costco. We're not going after Metro. This is about getting the truth.”
The billboards are scheduled to run for four weeks, ending two weeks shy of the Sept. 3 coroner’s inquest to determine whether the shooting was justified.
Thanks.
I predict an eventual series of ACLU or PARC lawsuits, followed by a consent decree by the city government and their insurance carrfiers that will put the city's police department under a much different sort of management, similar to what happened in Pittsburgh. The Big Dogs that Run Together won't like that at all.
“police officers who do a dangerous and mostly thankless job “
Did you know that police officer doesn’t even rank in the top 10 for dangerous jobs... And as far as “thankless”, they go around patting themselves on the back.
I hope they are held accountable in Erik Scott’s death.
Wow, if accurate, sounds very bad for the officers involved.
I sure hope they come up with the videos. Too bad someone didn’t use their cell phone to tape it, altho I’m sure it happened so fast no one thought to do it in time.
This is horrible. I don’t beleive I am in America anymore. If Republicans get power back, we have to stay on the defunding of this national police state stuff, pronto and restore our constituitonal rights and put a grip on the rights of cops.
What I got from that was that SOME witnesses stated that there was no gun in his hand, OTHER witnesses said that his gun was in his holster (i.e. consistent with it not being in his hand); but that NO witnesses (other than the LEO’s) said that he had a gun in his hand.
They’ve already stated that the video was not viewable and it’s been sent to a lab in Calif. It doesn’t sound good.
The Grand Jury will be busy.
That doesn’t sound good, but maybe it will be able to be fixed (not that I know how they do that stuff). I wonder how often these videos are not *viewable*.
From the June 26 Column in the LV Review-Jpurnal: What I want to know is, the next time a “civilian” kills a Metro cop, and states the cop “made a furtive movement,” will the Metro brass say, “Well, OK then, if the officer made a ‘furtive movement,’ I guess we have to drop all charges. After all, no one’s going to hold their fire when they see a ‘furtive movement’!”?
From talking to Nevada Freepers it sounds like they fail everytime. Did you see post 35?
Try using
“Las Vegas Costco shooting Scott” in a popular search engine.
Then, check local blogs for exwiness comments posted.
The RJ has a series of stories - where they interview the same folksas the cops and they have a totally different story in print.
Very odd indeed.
I’d read that one before. I didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh. A freeper that had lived in NV said that the locals are fed up with the corruption.
From the Wikipedia entry for Las Vehas mayor and former criminal defense attorner Oscar Goodman:
During his career as a defense attorney he represented defendants accused of being some of the leading organized crime figures in Las Vegas, such as Meyer Lansky, Nicky Scarfo, Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein, Phil Leonetti, former Stardust Casino boss Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, and Jamiel "Jimmy" Chagra a 1970s drug trafficker who was acquitted of ordering the murder of Federal Judge John Wood. His most notorious client was reputed Chicago mobster Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, who was known to have a short and violent temper. In the semi-factual 1995 movie Casino, the character of Nicky Santoro was based on Spilotro and was portrayed by actor Joe Pesci. Goodman had a cameo appearance in the film as himself while defending "Ace Rothstein", which was a character closely based on Lefty Rosenthal and played by Robert DeNiro. Goodman also represented former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock, who was convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions and eventually forced to resign. Hedgecock was later cleared of all charges on appeal due to jury tampering.
Of course, isn’t this Reid country?
OK, thanks!
I can see that Vegas isn’t corrupt. *wink wink*
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