Talking Points:
• District Attorney Mike Ramsey generates an attitude of dictatorial invulnerability.
• 37 fatal officer involved shootings have occurred during Ramsey’s tenure. Only one was found unjustified because there was dash cam video
. • The District Attorney has consistently omitted and cherrypicked critical officer shooting details in official reports.
• He has failed to release information about officer’s actions, statements and videos as required by law.
• He has failed to respond to Public Records requests from the public and victims.
• He has failed to follow protocol and instead interviewed officers together following Officer Involved Shootings.
• He has demonstrated consistent failure over the past 34 years to involve outside experts in Police Use of Force in Butte County.
BACKGROUND FOR TALKING POINTS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MIKE RAMSEY’S RECORD IN BUTTE COUNTY Concerned Citizens for Justice is alarmed that Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey is running unopposed for District Attorney again. District Attorney Mike Ramsey’s Butte County Officer-Involved-Shooting/Critical Incident Protocol Team investigates all officer involved shootings/critical incidents in Butte County. There have been allegations of misconduct serious enough to break public trust in local law enforcement as reported below by ChicoSol. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “Public safety is based on trust.” Concerned Citizens for Justice thinks that law enforcement agencies must be transparent and accountable to the public. CC4J asks our supporters and members to write Letters to the Editor. Speak up! We want you to tell the public about our Law Enforcement issues/concerns in Butte County.
TALKING POINTS FROM DAVE WADDELL’S CHICOSOL ARTICLES: A. March 17, 2017, Chico police shot Desmond Phillips to death. Mr. Phillips was at his father’s home and apparently experiencing a mental health crisis. His father called 911 for medical assistance. When the police officers arrived, instead of de-escalating the situation, they tased and shot Desmond, killing him within minutes of their arrival. The officers told conflicting stories to investigators about what Desmond Phillips was doing in the seconds before his death. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey brought the officers together nearly 3 weeks later for a group interview. Nationally recognized policing expert Professor Seth Stoughton (who testified for the prosecution in George Floyd’s case), commented on this, ”The only reason to interview witnesses together is to get one coherent cohesive story. But that’s not what an investigation is supposed to do.” DA Mike Ramsey exonerated the officers without addressing their conflicting stories. According to ChicoSol, District Attorney Ramsey omitted details from his official report of the Desmond Phillips killing, thereby not revealing what appears to be “coaching” the officers to “line up their stories”. Video footage that investigative journalist Dave Waddell obtained, after threatening legal action, documented what appeared to be the District Attorney’s manipulation of evidence. B. July 23, 2017, Chico and Butte County law enforcement killed Tyler Rushing. Tyler was first shot and severely wounded by an armed private security guard. Mr. Rushing was sheltering, barricaded in the bathroom of Chico’s MidValley Title Company for unknown reasons. According to District Attorney Ramsey’s report, Chico Police Sergeant Scott Ruppel, in his report, said he wanted to rescue the profusely bleeding victim.But, instead he shot him twice in the neck. Sgt. Ruppel said “he believed the subject was out of control of the officers and was an immediate mortal danger to them.” Ramsey’s official report did not include “Dickerson’s statement that Rushing was being held when shot—which is supported by body-worn camera evidence”, or the fact that Sgt. Ruppel, by his own estimate, “choked Rushing for eight seconds,” or that before Ruppel shot Rushing, “he knew he was not badly hurt by (Rushing’s pen strike “because there wasn’t enough pain for me to go down.”(ChicoSol) Ramsey did not respond to ChicoSol investigative journalist Dave Waddell’s multiple email inquiries asking why his report didn’t include these facts. From journalist Leslie Layton, in ChicoSol Nov. 4, 2021…”Local law enforcement agencies violated the law when they failed to respond fully and promptly__the Butte County District Attorney’s Office didn’t respond for months__to public record requests made by a local journalist.”
TALKING POINTS FROM SCOTT RUSHING, TYLER’S FATHER “The withholding of Ramsey’s videos damaged my legal team’s ability to pose the proper questions in depositions…..to make the most effective legal case for Tyler. The public needs to know that there is no evidence that Tyler was the burglar, no witnesses or photos that Tyler was in the building prior to being shot by the guard. Ramsey should have filed criminal charges against the shooters for the constitutional violation of Tyler’s civil rights to be protected from unnecessary use of lethal force and an illegal seizure, among other charges.” Instead, DA Ramsey exonerated law enforcement personnel who killed Tyler Rushing. DISTRICT ATTORNEY MIKE RAMSEY’S 34-YEAR HISTORY The Officer-Involved-Shooting deaths referred to above are two of the most recent deaths under Ramsey’s watch. Investigations of officer-involved-shootings by the Butte County OfficerInvolved-Shooting/Critical Incident Protocol Team show that officers investigating officers is not impartial. District Attorney Mike Ramsey has served as Butte County DA for 34 years, during which time there have been 37 officer-involved-shootings. In all but one, Ramsey exonerated the involved officers. The only officer involved shooting that he did prosecute was after the video of the shooting was made public and there was an enormous public outcry for justice. Concerned Citizens for Justice think that the points raised above warrant a thorough, independent investigation by the California Attorney General. Thirty seven shootings and the lack of investigation into 36 officer shootings raises significant concern about Mike Ramsey’s service as District Attorney in Butte County Please take a public stand! Ann Polivka Concerned Citizens for Justice cc4jchico@gmail.com
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