By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – Those who are seeking justice for the late Carl Dorsey III, who was fatally shot by a plainclothes Newark policeman here Jan. 1, 2021, have been taking their cause to other levels since a state grand jury’s Jan. 24 no bill of indictment.
Robert Tarver, Jr., attorney for Dorsey’s family, were among those who gathered before the Peter Rodino Federal Building Jan. 30 to call for a U.S. Department of Justice-New Jersey District investigation.
Tarver, flanked by Dorsey’s sister Madinah Pearson and People’s Organization for Progress chairman Lawrence Hamm, is calling on U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger to make good on upholding civil rights. The federal prosecutor, on March 28, had created a civil rights division in his office.
“We’re asking – no, no, no, no – demanding – that they initiate an investigation into this matter,” said Tarver, of Toms River. “We’re here because the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office – after two years of inaction with regard to this family, after two years of hearing nothing from these individuals – decided to bring this matter to a grand jury.”
Tarver and Pearson said that those in Acting N.J. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin’s Newark office who were handling the Dorsey case had not informed them of the grand jury until they had first read their no bill decision in a Jan. 26 press release.
“It’s almost like my brother’s life didn’t matter to anyone else but our family,” said Pearson. “It was another slap in the face to just go from not knowing anything for two years to finding out that the officer who killed him was not charged at all.”
Tarver, Pearson, Hamm and POP members then presented photos and video recordings of what happened at South 11th Street and Woodland Avenue early that New Year’s Day. The material was their evidence to support their contention that the grand jury’s Jan. 24 no bill was a miscarriage of justice.
The material is similar to what Tarver had presented in an Aug. 30 conference that heralded the family’s civil lawsuit against the city and NPD. The first home surveillance camera footage was released by then-AG Gurbir S. Grewal Jan. 21, 2021.
While Tarver, Dorsey’s family and supporters called for federal intervention, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka may have launched a city-level probe since his Jan. 27 announcement.
“AG Matthew J. Platkin’s investigation has been completed and we’re grateful for the community’s effort that helped to create an independent process that involves all police-involved shootings,” said the mayor. “Now, the City of Newark will conduct our own investigation to ensure that our officers in this incident followed procedures properly and did not violate regulations. We’ll move swiftly and decisively to launch this investigation, which we could not do until the state process had run its course.”
Det. Simpkins, added Baraka `is no longer on active duty.” He had been placed on administrative leave since Jan. 1, 2021.
The grand jury’s Jan. 26 handing down a no bill of indictment and Tarver’s Jan. 30 flanked the Jan. 27 release of the Memphis police officers’ body camera footage of their Jan. 7 traffic stop and fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. Baraka’s statement came several hours before that Friday night video release.
Newark’s Jan. 27 and 30 speakers, indeed, drew comparisons between the Dorsey and Nichols incidents.
“Any time an unarmed person is killed, it is a tragedy and painful for the victim’s family and his or her entire community,” said the mayor. “It’s deeply troubling that more black and brown people find themselves in this situation across the country as we’ve recently seen in Memphis. It’s appalling that someone who is unarmed can be killed in the street and we’re working hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again in Newark.”
“There’s been a long straight line between this incident and the incident in Memphis and other ones like it,” said Tarver. “It’s an unbreakable bond because they all have something in common – the devaluation of Black life in America.”
“The police have to understand that there are consequences for what they do,” said Hamm. “They have to know that, if they commit an unjust murder, they have to pay the same price that a civilian has to pay.”
Baraka’s announcement and Tarver’s call were in response to a New Jersey Superior Court-Newark grand jury handing down no charges against NPD Det. Rodney Simpkins. Grand juries decide whether there is enough evidence in a case to warrant a trial.
Tarver added that the Dorsey’ family’s civil rights lawsuit against the city, the Newark Police Division and particular police officers is proceeding. That suit, filed in Superior Court Aug. 30, asserts that officers used excessive force against Dorsey Jan. 1, 2021 because of inadequate training.
Hamm, at the Monday press conference, urged the passage of N.J., Assembly Bill A1515. A1515 and companion State Senate Bill S2295 would authorize the creation of civilian police complaint review boards with subpoena powers.
Newark’s CCRB, and others across the state, does not have subpoena power. A1515 and S2295, whose sponsors include six “Local Talk” area legislators, have spent a year waiting for their respective state committees’ hearings.
What Tarver presented to the public and what the empaneled grand jury had viewed, were several police dashboard and street surveillance recordings at Woodland and South 11th the first minutes into 2021.
Simpkins, according to the NJ AG Jan. 26 press release, was among 12 plainclothes members of NPD’s Criminal Intelligence Unit who were on patrol along Avon Avenue when they “heard gunshots in that area” at 12:03 a.m.
Simpkins, an 18-year NPD officer, was a rear seat passenger in the lead vehicle (one account has it as a minivan) that turned into South 11th and headed north towards Woodland.
Tarver, on Aug. 30, included a lawsuit against Simpkins that stemmed from a 2009 traffic stop. The officer was said to have pulled over a car driven by a football coach with two teenagers abroad and, during that stop, was alleged to have drawn a gun on them and told them, “You have no f—— rights.”
“Local Talk” has not immediately learned of that post-2009 suit’s outcome nor of any other publicized incidents involving Simpkins.
The Woodland and South 11th intersection is largely residential with a mix of 1980-era townhouses and older wood frame houses both occupied and vacant. It is a block west of Woodlawn Cemetery and a block south of Springfield Avenue and nearby Westside Plaza. Two concrete Jersey barriers had long closed the avenue east of the intersection.
The lead car’s occupants had said they had seen “muzzle flashes and individuals holding and discharging handguns” on their approach. Simpkins drew out his .9 mm. service gun and immediately exited the vehicle. He had said that he was focused on two men with guns to his north.
It was then when camera footage and/or testimony had Dorsey “run into” or “physically struck” from the side. Simpkins, while falling down, shot Dorsey. There was no weapon found on Dorsey although guns were later found discarded in the area.
A man, who was seen ditching his gun, was arrested and had eventually pleaded guilty to fourth degree pointing of a weapon.
Tarver pointed out video footage that Dorsey was running away from Simpkins after their collision.
NPD officers administered medical aid until local EMS technicians’ arrival. Dorsey, 39, of South Orange, was rushed to University – where he died at 1:37 a.m.
Pearson, stepfather Abdul Malik S. Muhammad, three children and an uncle are among Dorsey’s survivors.
Newark and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office promptly turned the investigation over to the state AG’s office. NJ AJ, in its Jan. 26 release, said that its Office of Public Integrity and Accountability had conducted the Dorsey case.
OPIA had been applying the Independent Prosecutor Directive of 2019 since July 2021. Its director, Thomas Eicher, found no conflicts of interest in the investigation prior to the grand jury presentation.
Memphis police, fire and sheriff’s office top brass, as of 11 a.m., Wednesday, have fired or suspended 10 of their own in a continuing investigation of the circumstances of Tyre Nichols’ traffic stop-turned fatal beating.
Seven MPD officers have been fired so far. They include the five who have been charged with second-degree crimes for pulling Nichols out of his car and beat him with their fists, baton and taser.
MPD’s SCORPION anti-violent crime unit, which included the five charged officers, has been disbanded.
Two MFD medical technicians have been fired for not properly assessing Nichols’ condition. A Shelby County Sheriff’s Officer has been suspended without pay.
A celebration of Nichols’ life was being held 1 p.m. local time Feb. 1 in Memphis’ Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. A memorial service for Nichols, who died from the beating injuries Jan. 10, was held on Jan. 17.
Parents Rodney and RowVaughn Wells and his 4-year-old son are among the package delivery driver and skateboarder’s survivors.
