Colin Flaherty: Dindu's Mother Knows Something Ain't Right After Police Undercover Sting

Colin Flaherty (Author of Don't Make the Black Kids Angry) Commentary Video "Vigil for teen shot and killed by undercover police on Near East Side Columbus" Dindu's Mother Knows Something Aint Right After Sting Operation black crime violence wildly out of proportion
The mother of a 16-year-old shot dead during a Columbus Police SWAT sting said Saturday night that she had not heard from anyone with CPD in more than 24 hours since her son's death.

Julius Ervin Tate, Jr., 16, was pronounced dead at Grant Medical Center in the early evening Friday, after he was shot on Mount Vernon Avenue. A police news release late Friday said Tate was caught up in an undercover tactic, wherein the SWAT team was setting up meetings online with people wanting to buy or sell goods. Police say when Tate showed up to the meeting, he pulled a gun on the undercover officer — and a "cover" officer nearby fired on him and struck Tate.

"No one ever came to me, Julius' mother, nor his father... and stated anything that went on," Malone said. "How can the police have a narrative of what happened, and not call me about it?"

Malone did not address whether it was likely that her son might have been involved in an armed robbery, but told vigil attendees that she doubted whether the gun recovered at the scene was her son's — and believes it may have been planted or handed over by someone else.

A Columbus Police spokesperson said Saturday evening that the investigation is in early stages. The officers involved in the sting have been placed on administrative leave; it was the second such shooting involving an undercover "buy/sell" operation in as many nights, after a similar situation in Southeast Columbus resulted in another police shooting that put a suspect in the hospital in critical condition.

by Geoffrey Redic Saturday, December 8th 2018