Why are authorities attempting to cover up Daniel Hambrick’s murder by Andrew Delke?

By NIARA SAVAGE | Nashville Voice

A closer look at the Hambrick case provides startling insight on how police departments across the country have evaded criminal charges for decades.

Although the Metro Nashville Police Departmentment, The FOP, and associated judges, authorities and officials have succeeded thus far in their stealthy manipulation of the so-called justice system, they have (in the midst of their coordinated effort), overlooked one crucial piece of information.

Here are the steps Officer Andrew Delke and related institutions are taking to make sure Delke gets off scot-free:

Step One: Join an institution with a history of racial bias.
The Policing Project’s 2018 study showed that Black Nashvillians are 44 percent more likely to be pulled over than their White counterparts.

According to Gideon’s Army’s 2017 ‘Driving while Black’ report, Black drivers account for 27.6 percent of Nashville’s population, but 39.3 percent of all traffic stops.

When Andrew Delke joined the Nashville Police Department in December 2016, he became part of an institution with a quantifiable history of racial bias.

Step Two: Illegally profile the victim.
Officer Delke first became suspicious of a white Impala when it yielded at an intersection. The officer then ran the car’s license plate, only to find that the vehicle had not been stolen.

However, Delke pursued the vehicle anyway, effectively profiling the driver on the basis of his decision to yield at an intersection.

Step Three: Chase a man who is running for his life.
After losing track of the initial vehicle, Delke misidentified another white vehicle as being the same one he had previously pursued. He approached the men standing by the vehicle, including Daniel Hambrick.

The officer then advanced on the victim in a foot chase.

“You can see my cousin running for his life,” said a family member of the victim in the weeks following the shooting.

Step Four: Take a life. Execution style.
Without knowledge of whose life he was about to take, Officer Delke pulled out his gun and fired three shots. Daniel was hit all three times—twice in the back and once in the back of the head.

Step Four: Mischaracterize the situation (lie).
Initial reports from authorities, local media outlets and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation characterized the killing of Daniel Hambrick as a traffic stop gone wrong.

However, it was later revealed that a traffic stop never occurred and that Officer Delke pursued the vehicle without cause. Authorities’ dishonest first narrative allowed for the public’s understanding of the incident to be deliberately manipulated and controlled.

Step Five: Make sure there’s a powerful organization on your side.
The Nashville Fraternal Order of Police has defended Officer Delke’s actions since the shooting took place.

FOP President James Smallwood not only professed that Delke acted reasonably but also smeared the DA for going before a second magistrate to receive a warrant for the officer’s arrest.

The FOP also leveraged its political power when it released statements in opposition to the passage of the Community Oversight Board, which will act as a check on Nashville Police.

Step Six: Make sure local media is on board with assassinating the victim’s character.
Instead of taking note of Daniel Hambrick’s dedication to caring for his legally blind mother and commitment to lending a hand to his neighbors in need, WZTV-Nashville highlighted Daniel Hambrick’s “terrible record,” insinuating that the 25-year old was an “armed robber,” a drug dealer, and a violent assailant leading a “gangster lifestyle.”

The author of the article seems to pose the question, ‘It’s not murder if he’s a criminal, right?’

Step Seven: Destroy the evidence.
WSMV-Nashville has reported that the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency has ‘accidentally’ erased the raw footage of the Hambrick shooting.

A judge has ordered what portions are left of the video to be handed over, not the prosecution, but to the defense.

Step Eight:  Use the victim’s criminal record to justify a ‘self-defense’ plea.
Last Friday, judge Melissa Blackburn stated that she will hear evidence relating to Hambrick’s past criminal record. This is despite the fact that the defense intends to justify the officer’s actions using a self-defense plea, and that the officer had no knowledge of Hambrick’s recorded at the time he pulled the trigger.

By ELI WATKINS, BARBARA STARR and RYAN BROWNE | CNN Newsource

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday he would replace Defense Secretary James Mattis at the start of the new year, two months earlier than Mattis’ planned departure.

“I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!” Trump tweeted.

Mattis announced his resignation on Thursday with a letter saying his views were not aligned with Trump, who said Mattis would retire at the end of February.

Mattis’ last day is expected to be Jan. 1, according to a source familiar with the matter. He is not expected to have a big, public farewell ceremony to try to prevent further exacerbating tensions between himself and Trump, the source said.

Trump mad at coverage of Mattis resignation

A source familiar with the matter said Trump was mad at the extensive coverage given to Mattis’ resignation and therefore was forcing him to leave earlier than he originally planned.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said in a statement that “the secretary of defense serves at the pleasure of the President. The department remains focused on national security.”

Mattis’ retirement announcement on Thursday led much of Washington, including key Republicans, to express alarm about the change in leadership at the Pentagon. The announcement itself followed Trump’s decision to call for a full withdrawal of troops from Syria and consideration of a drawdown in Afghanistan.

Mattis’ No. 2 to lead Pentagon

Shanahan, Trump’s choice to replace Mattis on an interim basis, was confirmed as Mattis’ No. 2 in the Pentagon last year by an overwhelming margin that came after a confirmation process that included a clash with the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain.

Shanahan’s portfolio at the Department of Defense has been narrow; he has almost exclusively handled budget issues, internal reform and the Space Force.

His official biography from the Defense Department notes Shanahan joined Boeing in 1986 and stayed with the major defense contractor for more than three decades. He received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and two higher degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to his biography.

By JEREMY HERB | CNN Newsource

The FBI is pushing back on outgoing House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s demand that the bureau finishes reviewing more than 3,000 pages of closed-door interview transcripts by Christmas Eve after the documents were provided to the FBI earlier this week.

In a blistering letter to Goodlatte, obtained by CNN, FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich warned that releasing transcripts without proper redactions “will result in the disclosure of law enforcement sensitive information” and suggested the documents might contain classified information.

“Your committee has not afforded the FBI the time necessary to undertake a thorough review of this large volume of documents for classified, sensitive and personally identifiable information,” Bowdich wrote.

Goodlatte and House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, who are both retiring Republicans, hope to release transcripts of the interviews they conducted over the past year for their joint probe into the FBI’s handling of the investigations into Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and Russia.

Bowdich said the FBI was provided the documents for review on Wednesday and was given a deadline of Monday to provide suggested redactions or corrections — which he emphasized in italics was Christmas Eve.

“We respectfully request that the committees maintain the confidentiality of the un-redacted interview transcripts pending a complete review by the FBI, the (Justice) Department and the Special Counsel’s Office, as appropriate,” Bowdich wrote.

Some of the documents the lawmakers obtained and asked witnesses about involve the foreign intelligence surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, and they have also probed the start of the counterintelligence investigation into members of Trump’s campaign.

In his letter, Bowdich noted that the topics covered included “FISA warrants and counterintelligence investigations,” warning that the transcripts could contain classified information.

The committees conducted the interviews behind closed doors, and the final sessions with former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch were this week. Comey’s testimony was already released publicly as part of an agreement struck in exchange for his appearance.

Goodlatte and Gowdy haven’t said whether they plan to put out any kind of report to summarize their findings before they retire at the end of this Congress. Gowdy told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted the transcripts of the interviews to be released publicly so that people can judge for themselves.

The Democrats taking over the two committees have made clear they do not plan to continue the probe into the FBI and Justice Department, which they charge was an effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller.

Goodlatte’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The FBI and Justice Department have repeatedly clashed with the Republican lawmakers over their investigation, as Republicans say the Justice Department slow-rolled their document requests.Several conservative lawmakers blamed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for the delays and threatened to hold him in contempt of Congress unless they got the documents they were seeking.Those same lawmakers on the committees were frustrated that Rosenstein never appeared for a closed-door interview as part of the probe. An interview between committee leaders and Rosenstein was scheduled in October, but it was postponed and never rescheduled.

By NIARA SAVAGE | Nashville Voice

On Friday, Nashville Judge Melissa Blackburn stated that Daniel Hambrick’s past “aggressive acts” can be used by the defense to justify officer Andrew Delke’s decision to use deadly force against the fleeing 25-year old.

Delke, the first Metro Nashville Police officer ever charged with criminal homicide, shot Hambrick three times in the back in July 2018.

Blackburn’s decision to hear evidence relating to Hambrick’s past criminal record is significant because officer Delke had no way of identifying the victim as an individual with a criminal record at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors resisted the decision, arguing that there is no evidence supporting the fact that the officer involved had any knowledge of Hambrick’s record. Despite this lack of evidence, parts of Hambrick’s record will be introduced to the judge in January.

The defense intends to argue that officer Delke was acting in self-defense, despite the fact that Hambrick fled as the officer advanced.

Defense Attorney David Raybin intends to characterize Hambrick as the “first aggressor.” The defense also attempted to use Facebook photos of Hambrick “simulating holding a pistol,” as evidence that the victim used guns for target practice.

Judge Blackburn ruled against this motion.

However, the judge’s decision to hear evidence relating to Hambrick’s criminal record raises questions about the level of relevance between Hambrick’s record and the officer’s decision to use deadly force.

Considering the defense plans to argue the officer acted in self-defense, legal experts and community leaders have questioned the rationalize why information the officer could not have known at the time he pulled the trigger, would be relevant to such a case.

Assistant District Attorney Ronald Dowdy, questioned the motion as well.

“I am scratching my head trying to figure out how this relates to this shooting,” he asked during Friday’s hearing.

Some local media outlets seem to support the Judge’s decision to consider Hambrick’s criminal history.

On Monday, Dennis Ferrier of Fox 17 News Nashville characterized Hambrick as a man with, “a terrible record going back to his early teens,” and stated that Hambrick’s Facebook photos promoted “a gangster lifestyle.”

By LEE JOHNSON | Nashville Voice

Inscribed on a wall in the “Civil Rights Room” at Nashville’s main library downtown, are the words of a young John Lewis: “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

They were encouraging words the emerging civil rights leader uttered to his defiant fellow students, who sat at a whites-only lunch counter on the same downtown block decades ago.

Undoubtedly, the students repeated Lewis’ words, as Nashville police officers carried them by their hands and feet to a paddy wagon for refusing to move from their seats.

Such history is part of a special training session at the library called Civil Rights and a Civil Society. When the program started in late 2014, it was amid growing national tension between police and the black community, and the program was mainly geared toward new police recruits.

Andrea Blackman, the program’s creator, said Tennessee law enforcement officers turned to the library’s rich archive on the civil rights movement to “learn about past injustices and hopefully prevent future injustices and misconceptions from occurring.”

But over the last few years, the program’s effectiveness has spread, and Blackman said she’s replicated the program for community groups, corporations, educators, and other organizations.

“The goal of these conversations is to foster cultural sensitivity and awareness that informs present and future interactions between law enforcement, authority figures, and civilians in our community,” Blackman said. “The training sessions model for participants how to create an inclusive environment in which each member of the community is valued, respected, and given opportunities to fully contribute their talents.”

Recently, a session was held for a group participating in a Citizen Police Academy, which allows members of the community to learn about the intricacies of police work. Because their focus is on police work, Blackman said the Academy participants went through the same session for new police recruits.

Roosevelt Walker Sr., pastor of Faith United Missionary Baptist Church, was among those in the group. He said his wife went through the Academy before him and shared her experience at the library. Walker said he was intrigued, and looked forward to the group’s library session.

“With the current climate across the country, I just think that it’s something that’s needed,” Walker said of the library sessions, which can last from three hours to three days.

Others agree that the divisiveness permeating the country right now more than justifies the need for Civil Rights and a Civil Society training sessions.

Jacquelyn Miller, an adult literacy associate for the library, plans to join the Academy and attended the library session. She said, “change only happens when you have these kinds of hard conversations.”

“As a white person who does want to work toward anti-racism in our community, there needs to be more spaces like this,” she said. “It gives us an opportunity … to come together and talk about it.”

During the part of the session in the Civil Rights Room, Blackman asked the participants to look at the archival photos around the top of the room and go to the one that resonated with them the most.

For Brandon Marshall, it was a young black man in his early 20s holding a sign during an economic boycott of downtown Nashville businesses in 1960. The sign read: “Human Rights” Before Profits.

“He looked to be about the age I am now, so I kind of saw myself in his shoes back then,” said Marshall, who is a local television reporter. “I thought about what would it have been like if I was where he was, standing outside on the street, holding up the sign. It was people like him fighting for equality. I did not grow up in that time period, but I was able to connect in some type of way.”

But Marshall and others acknowledge that, ironically, it doesn’t matter if they were in that time period because the nation continues to wrestle with racism and inequality.

And if there’s to be justice and unity, they say people need to come together in spaces like the one provided at the library and have the tough conversations.

The words of John Lewis still apply today: “If not now, then when?”

To learn more about the Civil Rights and a Civil Society training session, visit civilrightsroomnashville.com. 

STAFF REPORT | Nashville Voice

The year 2018 has been quite a year for Tequila Johnson.

Not only does Johnson works a full-time job and is a single mom to her daughter Christian, but she also has found the time to lead the state’s voter registration efforts and started two companies.

“Since the midterm election season has ended, I have not stopped working,” she admitted. “My goal is to find people who are willing to take the steps towards creating opportunities for people in our communities. We can climb the ladder and also pull people up as we climb. We cannot be afraid to put other people on.”

It is for all of her efforts that Johnson was unanimously selected as Nashville Voice’s Nashvillian of the Year for 2018. Her work in politics from grassroots and advocacy to voter empowerment and campaign management is deft and robust. Johnson is a walking stick of dynamite with lots of ideas about how to create a better, more equitable future for Nashville and the entire state of Tennessee.

“I don’t feel overwhelmed. I don’t feel stressed out. I feel empowered,” she added. “When you do things out of good intentions and operating within your purpose, it doesn’t feel as draining.”

Further, the young political strategist feels confident that black women, and the women whose wings she stands upon, can handle nearly everything that life throws at them.

“It almost makes me kinda emotional,” Johnson admits. “I didn’t even think about how much I’ve done this year until someone asks me about it.”

Johnson’s journey into politics started roughly three years ago when she signed on to run the school board campaign of Christiane Buggs, her sorority sister and a fellow alumna of Tennessee State University.

Johnson said that experience was highly insightful and led to her gathering a group of like-minded individuals to launch The Equity Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit political group with aims to equip citizens with tools and strategies to engage in the civic process and empower them to take action on issues affecting their daily lives.

With several winning campaigns under her belt as a campaign manager, Johnson could have easily become a campaign operative, a lifestyle known for its flashy titles and lucrative pay. However, Johnson chose a different path.

“I have looked where there are needs and gaps within the community,” she said. “We have to learn how to share our resources.

In choosing advocacy and grassroots organization over paychecks, Johnson made a decision that many who know her find it hard to understand.

“The first thing that people do when they are in my position is to follow the money in terms of working for campaigns,” Johnson said. “However, I saw there was a greater need.

“For me, it was a no-brainer, I saw there was a need for people who liked like me and come from backgrounds like mine to become engaged in the political process. I saw there was an opportunity to start outreach into communities by targeting neighborhood influencers.”

Earlier this year, Johnson and The Equity Alliance’s President Charlane Oliver put together a visibility campaign to engage black women voters in Tennessee.

“We looked at what happened with black women voters in Alabama so we wanted to start the conversation with black women in Tennessee. So as we started to look into how we could create more policy around people of color, we came up with an idea to organize a group photo,” Johnson explained.

“We recognized that while policy reform was important, no one was having a conversation about showcasing black excellence and sending a message that we could come together.”

The effort spawned a number of conversations of positive messaging, enriching black families, intergenerational relationships. The effort has also grown to include an annual Women for Tennessee Brunch and a Facebook group with thousands of women from across the state who engage with each other.

“It was the start of a movement,” said Johnson said, who was later tapped to bring her talent for organizing and coach neighborhood activists how to engage and fire up those audiences.

After being successful in recruitment and engagement Nashville, she got an opportunity to lead voter recruitment throughout the state.

“I drove over 8,000 miles across the state from June to November. I sat in homes, talking with people who didn’t like to vote,” Johnson recalled. “While I was the leader of this initiative, I met so many people across the state from all kinds of backgrounds who were organizing and doing the work but were without the resources to adequately affect change.”

Early this year, Johnson and Oliver created a consultancy firm called The Equity Group LLC., an offshoot of their non-profit work with the Equity Alliance. So far, the company has been hired with some outreach efforts and messaging campaign, along with advancing some project management efforts around Middle Tennessee.

“Many of the people who I have been engaging are people who have never considered working in the space,” she said. “This past year has influenced, I think about this work from a different lens.”

Last month, just after elections Johnson and fellow political strategist Eric Brown founded WITCO Inc., a political strategy and engagement firm to grow the pool of political operatives in the state of Tennessee. Johnson founded the group with fellow strategist Eric Brown shortly after the midterm elections.

“One of the things I realized after working with some national and statewide organizations, there were not a robust pool of operatives to do the work here in Tennessee,” Johnson said. “The reality is that we need hundreds of people who understand and know how to run campaigns, whether it be around policy initiatives or candidates for public office. We need people to run issue advocacy campaigns.”

Ultimately, Johnson said she is just glad to be doing the work that moves Metro Nashville-Davidson County forward.

“The community that I come from, I have had people who have poured into me. As I am learning and growing and building myself up, I have to figure out how to do that for others. The more people who are empowered around me, the more empowered I become.”

By NIARA SAVAGE | Nashville Voice

Less than one month away from the close of 2018, America remains more politically divided, more socially disjointed, and more traumatized by domestic terrorism than in recent years.

Despite the conflict and negativity that have dominated this political year, 2018 has also seen its fair share of heroes.

News about Colin Kaepernick’s continued courageous fight against the NFL’s call for players to stand during the National Anthem, rather than kneel in protest of police violence, has dominated media networks.

The struggle reached its pinnacle and effectively broke the internet when Nike boldly decided to make Kaepernick the face of its new campaign.

Maxine Waters powerfully resurfaced on national news, and earned the affectionate name “Aunty Maxine,” among millennials, when she fearlessly faced off against Donald Trump this year. After receiving death threats as a backlash to her scuttle with Trump back in June, the gutsy 80-year old responded, “You’d better shoot straight.”

The Nashville Voice has selected LeBron James as its first Person Of the Year, for demonstrating a profoundly dedicated sense of character, on and off the court.

Even after witnessing how political and social activism derailed Colin Kaepernick’s NFL career, Lebron James–one of the greatest to ever play the game–risked his athletic legacy by remaining vocal about the oppressive social conditions impacting minority communities.

He was not afraid to call President Trump out, professing that 45 doesn’t “give a f*uck about the people.”

After incidences of police brutality became more widely visible on a national scale due to the use of cellphones, James quickly transformed his personal Instagram page into a resource for spreading awareness about social justice issues.

During late spring, James shared his platform of nearly four million followers, by featuring young activists on his page.

The activists include 11-year-old Kheri Rogers, who focuses on issues relating to colorism and self-love, and Delaney Reynolds, a college student and author dedicated to combating climate change.

LeBron’s spirit of activism did not end with powerful quotes and social media posts. In July, James announced that his latest philanthropic endeavor, had taken the form of the I Promise School, which will serve students grades 1-8 and be fully operational in 2022.

The eight million-dollar school targets at-risk children, provides students with bikes, free meals, and full scholarships to cover college tuition.

Although many young athletes aspire to rival his astounding talent on the court someday, LeBron’s personal commitment to moral values, as well as to his family, also makes him a role model.

The star-player is not only a legendary athlete and philanthropist, but a dedicated husband, and father of three.

The pervasiveness of Lebron James’ good-natured personhood, now expressed on the public stage, paves the way for the next generation of athletes to commit themselves to greatness in every capacity.