Man Killed by Los Angeles police was wanted by US Marshalls

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BY TAMI ABDOLLAH

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A homeless man who was killed by Los Angeles police on Skid Row was living under an assumed name and was wanted for violating probation terms for a bank robbery conviction, French and U.S. officials said Tuesday.

A law enforcement official identified Charley Saturmin Robinet, 39, as the man police shot Sunday. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and talked to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Axel Cruau, the consul general for France in Los Angeles, said the man stole the identity of a French citizen and was living in the United States under an assumed name. He had applied for a French passport in the late 1990s to come to the United States to "pursue a career in acting."

Using the name Robinet, the man was identified as a French national in 2000 when he was convicted of robbing a Wells Fargo branch and pistol-whipping an employee in an effort to pay for acting classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

FULL story at link.



This February 2000 photo provided by Ventura County Sheriff's Office shows Charley Saturmin Robinet after his arrest for robbery. Robinet was killed Sunday, March 1, 2015, after a confrontation with police. Authorities say he tried to grab a probationary officer's gun and three officers fatally shot him. The three officers who fired their weapons in a videotaped struggle that left a homeless man dead were veterans of the Skid Row beat who had special training to deal with mentally ill and other people in the downtrodden area, police leaders said. (AP Photo/Ventura County Sheriff’s Office)

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SKID_ROW_POLICE_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-04-00-36-25

[uppityperson]

1. and unless the police knew this ahead of time, it has little to do with them instigating and

escalating the situation. Those cops had "special training" on dealing with mentality I'll and homeless there? Good god.

[MiniMe]

3. That was my first thought too

It's a "nice" story to try to cover what happened, but it doesn't help their story unless they knew all of that before the shooting. I'm sure most agree with me that the police seem to be the judge, jury, and sometimes executioner without a trial.

[Oktober]

11. I think they are using it...

... to suggest that a desperate person who is already on the run and has used violence in the past is more likely to fight harder or to reach for a weapon during an altercation.

[bhikkhu]

2. It seems any physical struggle would lead to "he grabbed for my gun" claims

as its right there on the belt, hard to avoid. And then any struggle easily leads to just shooting the guy dead. You'd think there would be a better way.

[HeiressofBickworth]

4. Typical LEO statement

Blame the victim; victim was a no-good anyway; victim was a criminal.

Under no circumstances do the police have the right to be judge, jury, and executioner every time they pull out their weapons.

[AZ Progressive]

5. Unless you have demonstrated exceptional character, the police can kill you and....

...assassinate your character (as well as claim you tried to attack them) to justify killing you.

We live in a blame the victim society (because people don't want to confront the aggressors or hold the aggressors accountable, they instead blame the victim. It's cowardice and laziness and a cop out.)

[Chemisse]

6. Ohhh, well then.

It's perfectly okay that he was shot and killed, now that we know he was a 'bad guy'. We actually should be thanking them; they saved us all the cost of a trial and prison time.

[Hoppy]

8. Yeah, the smoking gun might have become an Angel of Death mushroom or some kinda of mushroom.

[cynzke]

10. Reality!

The law gives police officers broad power to use "lethal force" thanks to the SCOTUS. In the video, some officers were on the ground TRYING to subdue the homeless man. They tried to use the escalating force usually REQUIRED including tasing the suspect up to the point of the shooting There is chaos and a lot of shouting. Something about a gun is shouted out and you see the officers react, jumping up and back as other officers start shooting. If a suspect has a weapon, tries to use something to harm the police officers or tries to grab a police officer's weapon that he can use against the police officers and the surrounding onlookers, police have full and legal authority to use lethal force to subdue the suspect. Police are not obligated to wait and see whether the suspect is armed or to second guess what may or may not turn out to be an actual threat. BY virtue of the fact that the suspect tried to reach for a weapon IS ENOUGH in the eyes of the law for police officers to use lethal force. The police followed protocol and tried to subdue this man. They handled it the way they were suppose to and only resorted to lethal force when he tried to grab for a gun.

[Evergreen Emerald]

13. What!?

Finally, a moment of sanity from someone on DU. When someone tries to grab the gun of a police officer, they will likely be shot. The idea that a police officer can "subdue" someone who is intent on killing is an outrageous concept.

The hate the cops meme is going too far and has lost all reason. Yes there are bad cops. Yes there are good cops. Yes there are bad perpetrators. Yes there are good citizens. In this case, people should be taking off their hatecop glasses and view reality.

[RobinA]

17. Reality

to me is that these scuffles go bad long before a gun is drawn. I am not a cop hater and I get the issues they face. However, I think many of these hand to hand combat disasters could be avoided if they never escalated to the point where they turn into a melee during which nobody knows what's going on.

In many cases, nobody needs to be "subdued" if the police don't get them riled up in the first place. This applies particularly to the mentally ill, who will NEVER be subdued by turning up the heat. In my area a mentally ill man ended up shot dead in a situation where he was walking down the street on a hot day dressed in plastic wrap and carrying a bottle of beer. It ended up in a hand to hand struggle with police during which a police gun was lost and they didn't know if the guy had it so they shot him. Like this LA situation, and Garner, why were they wrestling with the guy in the first place? No one was in danger until the police intervened with guns and testosterone blazing.

I am a mental health worker who has worked on the street and I have seen many police handle situations very well with safe outcomes. Those situations NEVER begin with screaming and shows of force.

[Evergreen Emerald]

20. This was a guy who went to extremes to avoid getting caught

He actually lived on the streets under an assumed name to avoid the consequences to his actions. He was not going be taken in.

[uppityperson]

14. nope, that is a big logic fail. Why did they drag him out of his tent and start this confrontation?

Saying all they could do is shoot him once he tried to grab a gun ignores a lot.

Why did they confront him and get physical with him in the first place? Was what they did their only option, to escalate to that point or could they have named off, taken more time then? Rather like cop Burke did in seattle when he shot John Williams who had a (closed) pocket knife in his hand when he turned to see who was running up to him yelling (that cop said he ran up to knife range and felt threatened) the cops instigating a confrontation own responsibility for the outcome.


Secondly, while I am sure someone at some time has reached for some gun, the frequency of this excuse is amazing. As is the ongoing breathtaking habit of black men adjusting their waistband of their pants when confronted by a cop.

[Chemisse]

18. Well stated.

"The cops instigating a confrontation own responsibility for the outcome."

And the attempted grabbing of a gun? I'll believe it when there is evidence to support it.

[damnedifIknow]

16. I have two words- Kelly Thomas

When a gang of cops start beating on someone it usually doesn't turn out well for that someone so do you take the pounding and scream for help or do you try and defend yourself?

[hobbit709]

7. So now probation violation is justification for killing?

[Evergreen Emerald]

19. no,

but attempting to take the gun of a police officer is.

[Vinca]

9. It doesn't matter if he was Charlie Freaking Manson who had broken out of jail.

The shoot was either justified or it wasn't. It's hard for me to imagine a pack of cops can't arrest a homeless guy who is spread out on the ground by them without putting a bullet in him. Deadly force is supposed to be a last resort.

[Historic NY]

12. Just who is he since then name & id he uses were stolen....

I don't think they ever really identified him beyond finding out he isn't a US citizen...


'The real Charley Robinet is in France apparently living a totally normal life and totally unaware his identity had been stolen years and years ago.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2978206/First-picture-emerges-homeless-man-shot-dead-LA-police-s-revealed-jailed-15-years-armed-robbery-stealing-33-500-fund-acting-classes.html#ixzz3TQScpDGA

[uppityperson]

15. mentally ill man violates reporting to parole officer, pulled out of tent by cops, struggles, shot?

Cops who supposedly had training in dealing with the mentality ill? It makes me wonder what their training was comprised of. Thanks for the article.