I'm not sure if you're saying this but I want to be clear just in case. The United States as a whole is NOT systemically racist. There was a time when it clearly was, as recently as the 60s? We agree?
If so, then I think you must admit that it is HIGHLY unlikely that EVERY independent municipality in the nation has grown and advanced at the same rate. To me, it is far more likely, when taking into account the nation's history, a history in which many of you were alive, that there are still some issues in some specific places.
When I see the following behavior by a police CHIEF as just one example, then is it really hard to fathom that my take on this is at least reasonable?
The former New Jersey police chief, who was convicted of lying to the FBI and is accused of a racially motivated attack against a Black teenager, was sentenced Wednesday to 28 months in federal prison.
Frank Nucera Jr, the former top cop in Bordentown, was handed the sentence by U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler after Nucera was convicted in 2019 for lying to FBI agents who were interviewing him in regards to a report that he assaulted and violated the civil rights of an 18-year-old handcuffed suspect at a hotel a few years prior.
However, Nucera will remain free on bail as the most serious charges against the longtime cop remain unresolved. A mistrial was declared on two of the counts after the jury remained deadlocked on if the assault was a hate crime and violated the victim’s civil rights.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney’s office said it intends to retry the case against Nucera on the two charges, but it is unclear when a second trial may begin. Kugler ordered Wednesday that Nucera would not begin to serve his sentence until a re-trial occurs.
Nucera’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sentencing.
The sentencing is the first bit of closure in the prolonged criminal case that centered around an incident at the Bordentown Ramada Inn in September 2016, where the victim and a 16-year-old girl failed to pay for their room after swimming in the pool, prompting hotel staff to call police.
A struggle ensued and police called for backup, which included Nucera.
As they led the 18-year-old man out in handcuffs, authorities said Nucera grabbed the man’s head and slammed it into the right side of a metal doorjamb separating the hallway from the stairwell.
In a later interview with FBI agents at a diner, Nucera denied every touching the suspect, though a witness said Nucera grabbed the teenager’s head “like a basketball” and slammed it into the doorframe.
Nucera was convicted of lying to federal investigators after the jury deliberated for more than 30 hours over six days before reaching the verdict, though the jury was deadlocked on the two most serious charges: hate crime assault and deprivation of civil rights under the color of law.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that assault on the Black suspect at the hotel was motivated by “deep racial animus,” and had the tapes to prove it.
An officer, who was with Nucera that night, recorded his comments after the incident at the hotel.
In the recording, Nucera was caught making racist comments about those involved, including using the N-word.
It wasn’t the first time Nucera had been recorded making racist comments and using slurs.
Authorities had access to 81 recordings made by Nathan Roohr, a K-9 sergeant who secretly recorded Nucera making racist remarks on the job.
“I wish that (N-word) would come back from Trenton and give me a reason to put my hands on him, I’m tired of ‘em. These (N-word) are like ISIS, they have no value,” he said in one recording about a suspect accused of slashing police vehicle tires. “They should line them all up and mow ‘em down. I’d like to be on the firing squad, I could do it.”
He also said former President Donald Trump was the “last hope for white people,” and used the N-word to describe a former NFL player who was building a fitness complex in Bordentown.
But a jury could not come to a unanimous decision on if the assault was racially motivated. Prosecutors have made it clear they intend to retry the case, though they have been unable to due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nucera was initially scheduled to be sentenced in February 2020, but the sentencing had been continually pushed back.
Nucera filed a motion to have the conviction dismissed, though Kugler denied it.
The longtime cop left the police force in 2017 after a 34-year career upon learning he was under federal investigation.
“The general public has suffered,” the judge said before sentencing Nucera, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “His words and his deeds caused great harm to the public perception of the criminal justice system.”
