Black Lives Matter-LA co-founder Melina Abdullah is trying to revive a lawsuit over the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a “slapping” incident at her home in 2020, saying previously undisclosed evidence suggests the original 911 call could have been a “fiction.” ” composed by the police.
In his original lawsuit, Abdullah alleged that police ignored signs that the hostage emergency reported in the 911 call was not real and proceeded to surround his home with more than a dozen officers in tactical gear. Abdullah's lawsuit says police provided information to his attorneys that suggested the false report was made by a teenager living in Maryland, identified as “X” in court documents.
The city's lawyers responded that the police should not be held responsible for any harm, because they were responding to what they believed was a legitimate hostage situation. After five days of testimony last month, a jury ruled in favor of the city and the two police officers named in its lawsuit, Sgt. James Mankey and officer José Pérez.
During the trial, jurors heard a recording of the false hostage report made by someone calling himself “Dale Brooks” or “Dale Brook.” Speaking with a thick Southern accent, his caller told a 911 operator that he wanted a million dollars or he would shoot the three people he had taken hostage inside a home. He gave Abdullah's address, without saying his name.
But in a motion filed Monday, Abdullah asked for a new trial alleging that police withheld material information that called into question their investigation of the 911 call. In particular, the motion filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that police failed to revealed that the “hit” call may have been made by “a group of teenage players living out of state,” rather than a single individual, and that the original teenage suspect, “X,” had left the country since so.
“If the plaintiff's investigation into 'X' determined that neither 'X' nor the other players were real people, then that would be evidence that the LAPD knew the 911 call was a hoax and failed to conduct a diligent investigation before sending the call. complete information. Los Angeles police force to plaintiff’s home,” Dermot Givens, Abdullah’s attorney, wrote in a statement supporting the motion.
Givens wrote that he first learned this during questioning by a Major Crimes Division detective, despite repeatedly pressing the department for details about that investigation and getting no answers.
“Such evidence would have allowed the jury to reach a different verdict at trial,” Givens wrote, “because it would likely have convinced the jury to determine that the LAPD knew the 911 call was a hoax, and even potentially that the LAPD had fabricated the information. ”. “911 calls itself to harass the plaintiff.”
By all appearances, investigators made little effort to try to locate and interview the suspect, Givens argued in the motion. This, she said, raised questions about whether the incident was part of a broader campaign by the department to silence Abdullah, one of its staunchest critics.
Had they known that “X” left the country, Abdullah's legal team argued, they would have contacted the Department of Homeland Security to “determine whether 'X' was a real person and available for an interview regarding the phone call.” 911″. That disclosure also could have changed the outcome of the trial, they argued in Monday's motion.
“The fact that jurors had evidence that 'Dale Brook' was a complete fiction created by the defendants would have allowed them to reach a different verdict,” Givens wrote.
When contacted Tuesday, an LAPD spokesperson referred questions to the city attorney's office, which did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In response to the alleged hostage threat, police sent more than a dozen officers from the nearby Wilshire Division to Abdullah's home, along with a helicopter.
Abdullah sued the city over the incident in 2021, saying she and her three children feared for their lives when officers aggressively approached their home, some with guns drawn.
The city argued in court that the police response had nothing to do with Abdullah's stature in local political circles. Mankey testified that she did not recognize Abdullah; Body camera video played at the trial showed him searching for her on Facebook.
At the time, numerous city officials called for an investigation into the police response. The incident came in the wake of a summer of widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, during which Abdullah emerged as a visible local critic of police in general and the LAPD in particular.
Over the years, numerous celebrities and public figures have been victims of so-called swatting incidents, in which an individual or group of people intentionally report a false threat to provoke a heavily armed police response at a specific location.
Authorities say perpetrators often go to great lengths to mask their digital identity and location, making prosecution difficult.
Abdullah had previously been the target of numerous crush calls. Authorities have said that a group of teenagers, motivated by racial hatred, were responsible for two previous beating incidents at his home. Abdullah and his lawyers said they were prevented from showing the jury evidence about these previous incidents.
Her lawsuit states that the activist was not aware of any investigation or findings stemming from the incident, but “still lives in fear of another similar police incident.” Her defense team has argued that the presence of a police helicopter hovering overhead and dozens of armed police officers outside her home was a blatant display of intimidation rather than an attempt to come to her rescue.
