Earlier this year when President Obama nominated cop killer advocate Debo Adegbile to head up the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, Attorney General Eric Holder applauded the move. Because of Adegbile's voluntary work on behalf of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal, who brutally murdered Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in cold blood back in 1981, his nomination was voted down in the filibuster proof, Democrat controlled Senate 52-47. In 2011 under Adegbile's leadership at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the death penalty sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal was overturned despite thirty years of multiple courts upholding the his murder conviction. Major law enforcement groups representing hundreds of thousands of officers from across the country sent letters directly to President Obama strongly condemning the nomination and worked with Senators to block Adegbile from working in DOJ.
“I’m very disappointed in the Senate’s vote. At a time when significant voting rights cases and other consequential matters are pending, it is more critical than ever to have a confirmed leader for the Civil Rights Division. Mr. Adegbile is a uniquely qualified nominee and an exceptional lawyer. He deserved to have his nomination considered wholly on the merits. His record was either misunderstood, or intentionally misrepresented for the sake of politics," Holder said when Adegbile's nomination was blocked.
Now, Holder has sided with a new set of alleged cop killers in Virginia by taking the death penalty out of consideration for four gang members who kidnapped and murdered Police Officer Kevin Quick.
Four gang members who were charged with the murder of a reserve Virginia police officer, Kevin Quick, will not be facing the death penalty, federal prosecutors told reporters Friday.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has taken the death penalty off the table, but the co-defendants will face the possibility of life in prison for their alleged role in killing Quick, 45. He was reported missing on Feb. 1 and his body was found several days later.
The suspects -- Daniel Lamont Mathis, Shantai Monique Shelton, Mersadies Lachalle Shelton and Travis Leon Bell, also known as Kweli Uhuru -- were charged in May, according to The Associated Press.
Indictments released in May allege that the suspects who carjacked, kidnapped and killed Quick were members of the Virginia street gang, 99 Goon Syndikat, which reportedly has ties to the Bloods from Los Angeles.
Quick leaves behind a four month old daughter.
Last week former Assistant FBI Director Ron Hosko, who now leads the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, sent a scathing letter to President Obama about the broken relationship between DOJ and law enforcement across the country under Holder's leadership and used the situation in Ferguson, Missouri as an example.
"As we move forward with the selection and confirmation of a new attorney general, I ask that you personally reengage with the law enforcement community of dedicated and valiant men and women across the country, serving at every level of government. With two years remaining in your presidency, you have an urgent responsibility to correct damage inflicted upon law enforcement and help mend the rift between police and those they protect. The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund will be happy to support any such discussions," Hosko wrote. "The hyper-politicization of justice issues has made it immeasurably more difficult for police officers to simply do their jobs. The growing divide between the police and the people – perhaps best characterized by protesters in Ferguson, Mo., who angrily chanted, “It’s not black or white. It’s blue!” – only benefits of members of a political class seeking to vilify law enforcement for other societal failures. This puts our communities at greater risk, especially the most vulnerable among us."
"Your attorney general, Eric Holder, is chief among the antagonists. During his tenure as the head of the Department of Justice, Mr. Holder claims to have investigated twice as many police and police departments as any of his predecessors. Of course, this includes his ill-timed decision to launch a full investigation into the Ferguson Police Department at the height of racial tensions in that community, throwing gasoline on a fire that was already burning. Many officers were disgusted by such a transparent political maneuver at a time when presidential and attorney general leadership could have calmed a truly chaotic situation," Hosko continued.
Holder announced his resignation after six years at DOJ in September. Brooklyn Prosecutor Loretta Lynch has been nominated by President Obama to replace him. Confirmation hearing for Lynch will likely happen after the new Congress takes their seats in January.
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