Prosecutors Seek Intentional Murder Charge Against Somali Cop Who Shot Justine Damond
Laura Loomer
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Prosecutors in Minnesota have asked the judge in the Mohamed Noor case to add a charge of Second Degree Intentional Murder against Noor, the fired Somali ex-Minneapolis police who shot and killed Justine Damond on July 15, 2017.
“Interestingly, the assertions made by the defendant in his probable cause brief that the defendant saw, observed, pointed at, aimed at and fired a single shot at Ms. Ruszczyk with the knowledge of what he was doing and who he was doing it to do also support the theory that the defendant committed an intentional homicide,” the court documents say.
Damon’s killing after calling Minneapolis Police to report an attempted sexual assault sparked outrage worldwide as Ex-Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges’ Muslim diversity hire shot and killed an Australian woman who was loved, admired and respected by all who knew her.
Damond, 40, was shot once fatally in her chest by the first Somali-American hired onto the Minneapolis police department after calling 911 for help for a woman she thought was being sexually assaulted in the alley behind her home.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman had initially said that he would make a charging decision before the end of 2017. But in December, he was caught on video blasting Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators for not bringing him enough evidence to charge Noor.
“I’ve got to have the evidence, and I don’t have it yet,” Freeman said in the video. “Let me just say it’s not my fault. So if it isn’t my fault, who didn’t do their job? Investigators. They don’t work for me. They haven’t done their job.”
Toward the end of December Freeman announced that he would not make a charging decision in the case until 2018 and has since remained silent on the matter.
Freeman said nearly two years ago that he would stop using grand juries in police shooting cases. The announcement first came in March 2016 when he was deciding whether to charge two officers in the officer-involved shooting death of Jamar Clark in north Minneapolis the previous November.
Noor’s partner and the driver that night, Matthew Harrity told investigators that on the night of the shooting he and Noor were responding to a 911 call behind Damond’s south Minneapolis home and were startled by a loud sound, according to a press release issued by the BCA three days after the shooting. Immediately afterward, Damond Ruszczyk approached the driver’s side window of the squad, according to BCA. Noor, sitting in the passenger seat, pulled his gun and fired, hitting Damond through the open driver’s side window from no more than 6 feet away.
After being shot, Justine Damond said, “I’m dying or I’m dead”.
The Hennepin County Attorneys Office declined to comment as there is a gag order in the case.
Noor’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.
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