Rooster in Review: Justice for Donovan Lewis
Rooster in Review: Justice for Donovan Lewis
While an Ohio Police Chief assaults a homeless man while vacationing in Florida.
Before we begin today, as you might have heard, Pelotonia is tomorrow.
Personally, I think it’s weird that we’re asked to donate to something already as well-funded as cancer research in America. But my good friend, “Fair Deal Phil,” as we Marionaires call him, recently got into biking and pledged to ride 50 miles tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Fair Deal Phil didn’t realize he was expected to raise over $1,000 in donations. I would have just shown up anyway, and that’s why Fair Deal Phil is a better man than me.
Look no further if you have some spare change rattling around your couch cushions and feel like donating to a good cause this Friday. Just click the image below to be taken to the donation page.
I appreciate your consideration on this matter. Now on to the show!
Former longtime Columbus cop charged in the stone-cold murder of Donovan Lewis…
Over a year since Columbus police shot a 22-year-old Black man to death within seconds of opening his bedroom door while serving misdemeanor warrants in the early hours of a Tuesday morning, a grand jury has indicted the former Columbus cop for murder.
From 10tv.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County grand jury has chosen to indict a former police officer who fatally shot a 22-year-old man while serving a warrant nearly a year ago.
Ricky Anderson, who was a 30-year veteran with the Columbus Division of Police, was charged with murder and reckless homicide in connection to Donovan Lewis’ death.
The incident happened on Aug. 30, 2022, in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue. Officers were at the scene to arrest Lewis on multiple warrants including domestic violence and assault.
Police bodycam footage showed Anderson opening a bedroom door in an apartment and immediately shooting the 20-year-old, who was in bed.
As we know, restorative justice isn’t possible in this case because that would end with Lewis getting his life back. It’s also a long road from indictment to conviction for a cop, even if their crimes are caught on tape.
Still, it’s a positive step that a grand jury decided to indict Anderson, who you won’t be shocked to learn had a history of violence. At the same time, 10TV made the curious editorial choice to mention that Lewis had THC in his system at the time of death in case anybody was looking for a reason to blame a sleeping man for his death at the hands of the state.
Toxicology testing found nicotine and THC in Lewis' blood. The report does not indicate if Lewis was under the influence at the time of his death.
Anderson was placed on administrative leave.
According to Anderson's personnel file, there were 10 citizen complaints against him in 2001, including the use of force and violating police rules.
According to the report, Anderson retired in March 2023 in bad standing due to the ongoing investigations into his actions. He won’t be missed from the streets of Columbus in the meantime.
This week in Ohio Man…
As Ryan Nanni once declared, Florida is the Europe of Ohio. We Ohioans view Florida as an international destination, and like most American tourists, we like to get drunk and pretend that the rules of society no longer apply to us.
That also appears to be the case for Chad McArdle, the Police Chief of Boston Heights, Ohio, a village in Summit County with 1,402 residents, according to the 2020 census.
Chief McArdle used his taxpayer-funded vacation to Florida to assault a homeless man and then try to play the victim to local police.
From Andrea Vacchiano of foxnews.com:
Boston Heights Police Chief Chad McArdle, 40, was charged with misdemeanor-level battery early on Friday morning. He was arrested by police officers in Key West.
According to an arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital, a taxi driver called police at around 1 a.m. and told them that a shirtless man was banging on his door.
The man, who was identified as McArdle, told the driver that he was stabbed and that people wanted to kill him before laying down and crying on the sidewalk.
[…]
He told officers that he was pushed and dragged into a vehicle and stabbed by two suspects, but police could not find any stab wounds.
“McArdle [sic] could not describe the stick or which of the two males stabbed him…[he] stated that he was able to grab the stick from the male and stabbed the male in the throat with that stick; Mcardle [sic] said that the man was probably dead now,” the police report read.
Police noted that there was no blood on McArdle’s hands and believed he was giving contradictory information.
Officers later found a homeless man who was lying on the ground in the alley. The man reported that he was attacked.
You can watch the video here:
Cops in Ohio’s big cities get a lot of hate, and rightfully so. But don’t sleep on the police in small villages like Boston Heights, a place I had never heard about until today.
That McArdle not only assaulted a person in a marginalized community and then tried to lie his way out of it tells you a lot about how he operates in his day job. He should be fired, but given our sick love of police in America, he’ll probably win the next mayoral election in Boston Heights by 25 percentage points.
This week in The Rooster…
To the cheaters, the spoils. It’s worth asking what you’ll do if the Ohio Supreme Court makes up a reason to junk the abortion amendment that’s already headed to the November ballot.
The gremlins they keep. How Ohio House Human Resources handled one legislative aide’s assault cause is a symptom of a broader problem. (Unlocked today for all to read).
Dave Yost is scared of the world he helped build. "Guns for everybody at any time" is a much more palatable position for a politician when they’re not confronted with being on the wrong end of a maniac holding a murder machine. (Free for all.)
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