NOTE: THE HEADLINE FOR THIS ARTICLE INCORRECTLY LISTED THE DATE OF HAKIM LITTLETON’S DEATH, WHICH WAS JULY 10, 2020. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE A VOD STORY HEADLINE AFTER PUBLICATION BECAUSE THE STORY WILL DISAPPEAR.
Video analysis by Detroit Coalition for Police Accountability of Littleton’s execution available again (above) after censorship by FB, other platforms
Despite earlier claim that DPD continuing investigation of Littleton’s death, Craig now ramps up attack on him, other DPD victims with innuendo, falsehoods
Cites charges brought against Littleton 3 years ago when he was still a juvenile; Littleton had no other record when DPD gang squad killed him.
By Diane Bukowski
August 31, 2020
Hakim Littleton (family photo)
DETROIT — A video analysis by the Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency (C-PAT) of police bodycam videos showing the execution of Hakim Littleton, 20, by Detroit Gang Squad police on July 10, 2020, is once again available.
Facebook and other platforms earlier blocked the publication of the video, causing it to be erased from VOD’s earlier stories. VOD is now re-publishing it.
C-PAT analyzed two separate bodycam videos side by side, and identified 10 shots fired. Craig claimed police fired four and Littleton fired four, totaling eight. The 10th shot was to Hakim’s head at point-blank range, as he lay already wounded on the ground with a cop sitting on top of him.
Littleton had happened on the cops clad in bullet-proof vests, brandishing assault weapons, as they arrested another youth on Detroit’s west side. Littleton’s death sparked uprisings in the neighborhood and a mass protest outside DPD’s 12th Precinct.
Hakim Littleton’s Uncle Asar Amen-Ra speaks at press conference July 23.
To date, DPD Chief James Craig has not released the names of the cops involved in Littleton’s killing, forensics evidence, or any other pertinent information demanded by community advocates.
Complete information including names of all involved in three other DPD shootings, two fatal, in the weeks subsequent to Littleton’s death also remains undisclosed.
The Detroit News published a story Aug. 13 on the call by 15 community organizations for an investigation into Littleton’s death, providing the full C-PAT video through an obscure link.
The story included a family photo of Littleton, but the News reverted to its previous use of a three-year-old Michigan Department of Corrections photo of Littleton in its Aug. 29 story on conflicts between DPD and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office over plea bargains. (See link at bottom of this story.)
In the video above, Channel 7 cited the DPD response to C-PAT’s claims, which noted it was still under investigation and regretted any loss of life, evidently backing off from Craig’s boast that Littleton’s killing was completely justified.
But the Aug. 29 News story renewed the attack on Littleton, reporting Craig’s claim that Littleton and other “violent criminals” like him should never have been given plea deals and probation.
Protest July 10 after death of Hakim Littleton.
“Three years before the incident [the police killing of Littleton), Littleton was charged with armed robbery, which carries up to a life sentence, but he cut a plea deal that kept him out of prison,” reporter George Hunter wrote.
“Littleton’s case is an example of an ongoing problem, Craig said. ‘We arrest these violent criminals, but in so many cases they get a plea deal and go back on the street to commit more crimes, and then everyone blames the police if crime goes up,’ the police chief said.”
DPD Chief James Craig and cops in one of 18 raids through Detroit neighborhoods.
Hunter cited alleged offenses by Littleton on August 10, 2017, when Littleton was still 17 and legally a juvenile.
“On Aug. 10, 2017, Littleton allegedly broke into a house on the 16800 block of Wildemere on the city’s west side, pulled out a pistol and robbed the homeowner, making off with the victim’s cellphone and headphones,” Hunter wrote. “Police arrested Littleton and charged him with armed robbery. Court records show a week later, Littleton was charged in a separate case with felonious assault. Prosecutors offered Littleton a deal: Plead guilty to unarmed robbery, and he’d stay out of prison and get probation. He took the deal and was given probation.”
Hunter did not indicate where he got the version he cites of the alleged break-in and charges.
The Register of Actions for the case shows that Hunter’s account is factually inaccurate.
Judge Dalton A. Roberson, Jr. sentenced Littleton to BOOT CAMP and THREE YEARS OF PROBATION after he pled guilty to the offenses of “weapons–felony firearm” and “unarmed robbery” on Jan. 5, 2018. An armed robbery charge was dismissed.
In the “separate case” cited by Hunter, the ROA says Littleton was charged with “Interfering With Crime Report-committing a Crime/threatening to kill or injure,” and “Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Felonious Assault) on Aug. 18, 2017. Those charges were separately dismissed by Judge Ulysses Boykin March 16, 2018.
See Register of Actions for both cases at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/Hakim-Littleton-ROA-2.pdf
Craig later employed similar unfounded allegations and innuendo to explain two fatal and one non-fatal DPD shootings in the two weeks subsequent to Littleton’s death.
Detroit News article: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/08/29/detroit-police-james-craig-wayne-prosecutor-kym-worthy-plea-deals/3407614001/
Related:
Community statement on the killing of Hakim Littleton: https://www.aclumich.org/en/press-releases/community-statement-killing-hakim-littleton
- COPS AT SCENE SUPPORTED TEEN WHO KILLED 2 KENOSHA PROTESTERS; WHITMER SENDS NAT.’L GUARD TO AID THEM
- KENOSHA,WI COPS SHOOT BLACK DAD 8 TIMES IN BACK; DETROIT COPS ATTACK PROTEST VS. FEDS, ARREST 42
- WAYNE CO. PROSECUTOR KYM WORTHY MUST GO! VOTE FOR VICTORIA BURTON-HARRIS AUG. 4 IN DEM. PRIMARY
- WOULD DETROIT POLICE HAVE KILLED HAKIM LITTLETON IF HE WAS WHITE?
********************************************************************************
This month. August 2020, marks the 10th anniversary of the Voice of Detroit. It has been a struggle financially to keep VOD going, but we feel it is vital for those WITHOUT a voice. We do not charge for access to our articles, as do the News and Free Press, but appreciate whatever readers can donate. Our ongoing costs include quarterly HostPapa web charges of $380, P.O. box fee of $150/yr. and costs for research including court records, internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc. The editor and reporters are not paid for their work, and many live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated.
Please if you can
DONATE TO VOD at
https://www.gofundme.com/VOD-readers-up
*********************************************************************************
The police who are behind this are the root of all evil. Racism in the United States is still hot. During this time, we should be kind and lift each other, but what’s happening now is divergent.