Have to wonder. If you are not the compromised city manager and the Charlotte city council, that is.
With the unsurprising word that Marcus Jackson civil suits against the city are headed to federal court coming on the heels of the shocking dismissal of all charges in the Wacka Flocka Wild West shoot out in February, any unbiased observer has to wonder about the state of law enforcement in Charlotte.
DA Andrew Murray whiffed on a chance to restore public confidence in CMPD. Instead of just dismissing the Wacka charges, Murray should’ve called in the SBI to get to the bottom of just what happened in broad daylight on the streets of his city. The official CMPD answer — We Have No Idea — just does not cut it.
But you know what, I think CMPD knows much more about the shootings that day than they are letting on. I think the department knows that Wacka’s “security” was made up of current or former LEOs from Atlanta and that they were in violation of North Carolina law by packing heat out of uniform while acting as private security. Nothing else explains CMPD’s handling of the case.
This gets us back to the topic of big civil payouts by the city. Antonio Stukes was shot by a still unidentified member of Wacka’s hip-hop Praetorian Guard. Stukes, a convicted felon, was then arrested on Feb. 19th and charged with armed robbery and discharging a firearm into occupied property. On March 2nd the state tacked on a parole/probation violation.
Stukes just got out of the Mecklenburg County jail on Wednesday.
Think he might have an unlawful arrest suit in his future?
And what of the nationwide manhunt and murder charges CMPD lodged against Michael Harvey? That case has long looked shaky and utterly dependent on getting a plea from Harvey. It has gone strangely silent.
And now back to the Jackson suit. Has Chief Monroe been deposed yet? How much time and money is the city of Charlotte’s legal team spending on prepping his testimony? Has he retained outside counsel — if so who is paying the bill? The suit specifically claims that Monroe was directly responsible for keeping Jackson on patrol with a badge and gun despite Jackson’s numerous violations of department policy.
Can Rodney Monroe swear that is not true? How much will it cost Charlotte taxpayers if it is true?
