Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Florida Cop With Bad History Shoots, Kills College Student Over Seatbelt Violation

Rodney Mitchell was a 23 year old Florida man whose family affectionately called him “Hot Rod.”  He earned the name both for his good looks and his “unending appreciation of life, children, and those who loved him..”  According to the Herald Tribune, he “added great joy to the world.”  He had earned a full scholarship at East New Mexico University (ENMU), where he completed a degree in physical education.  Mitchell had won acclaim as an athletic football player capable of doing full somersaults in the end zone to celebrate a good play.  After graduation, Mitchell returned to Bradenton to work.  Tragically, in June 2012, Mitchell was shot a killed by two Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies during a routine traffic stop for allegedly not wearing a seat belt.
Many were shocked by the news and could not believe that Mitchell was dead.  ENMU professor and academic adviser to Mitchell, Mary Drabbs, says, “It took me 24 hours to accept that he wasn’t alive.  He was such a live wire, always bouncing around and happy.  It’s awful for us.”
Mitchell’s family echoes the same sentiments.  Mitchell’s mother, Natasha Clemons, spend the time just after hearing the news of her son’s death believing that it was just all a dream.  In addition to many family and friends, Mitchell also left behind a son, who was four years old at the time of his murder.
Deputies involved in the shooting claim that Mitchell drove his SUV into one of them which prompted the shooting.  Mitchell had been returning from a family gathering in Newtown.  Mitchell’s cousin, a passenger in the vehicle reportedly fled on foot.  Regarding him leaving the scene, Daphney Branham, an attorney for the family reports that, “Law enforcement officers fired four bullets into a vehicle in which he was in.  Those bullets could have struck him, and he could have been killed.  So, I only can imagine the shock he was in at that particular time.  His only mission was to go and get help.”
http://blacklikemoi.com/2014/06/expert-witness-ken-williams-speaks-rodney-mitchell-case/

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