Democracy Fail
Police officer in fatal shooting of Marine vet ID’d, was sued in 2008 racism and brutality case

“Police officer in fatal shooting of Marine vet ID’d, was sued in 2008 racism and brutality case by Xeni Jardin Democracy Now has a big update in the homicide of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, a black Marine vet shot dead at his home by police in White Plains, New York, last November after he accidentally set off his wearable medical alert device. A previous BB post on the story is here. The victim’s son and other advocates have been pressuring authorities to release the name of the officer involved: Documented in audio recordings, the White Plains police reportedly used a racial slur, burst through Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, then shot him dead. “The last time I actually really saw my father, other than the funeral, was at the hospital, with his eyes wide open, his tongue hanging out his mouth, and two bullet holes in his chest,” said Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. “And I’m staring at my father, wondering, ‘What happened?’” The alleged shooter, Officer Anthony Carelli, is due in court later this month in an unrelated 2008 police brutality case. He is accused of being the most brutal of a group of officers who allegedly beat two arrestees of Jordanian descent and called them “rag heads.”“


The Trayvon Martin story remains in national headlines this week, but little media attention has been paid to a similarly troubling case: that of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old Marine vet killed last November by police officers in White Plains, NY. The officers were responding to a false alarm triggered by Chamberlain’s medical alert pendant. Instead of helping the man, who had a heart condition, they broke down his front door, tasered him, called him the “n-word” and mocked him, then shot him dead. Audio throughout the incident was recorded by his medical alert device. Democracy Now has an extensive segment on the case, including an interview with Chamberlain’s son. The New York Times ran a piece on the story a few weeks ago. The police department has so far refused to release the name of the officer who killed the elderly man. The officer is believed to currently be on duty, still working for the White Plains police. After public outcry, local protests, and an online campaign for case review, the local DA this week promised that a grand jury will hear the case. The family intends to sue. (via @emeedub)