Raymond Ponzini

Rutherford County jail, Tennessee

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is supposedly conducting an investigation into the death and possible murder of an 18-year-old boy who was taken to the Rutherford County jail in Tennessee.

It seems things went a little bit too far. Young Andron Reed died or was killed soon after he was handed over to County Sheriff’s deputies late Friday night. He had been arrested after leading state troopers on a high-speed chase down Interstate 24, which ended in a slight accident. Luckily for all no one was injured according to the highway patrol officers who took Andron and his brother Octavius into custody at the scene. Of course Andron was arrested on a variety of charges ranging from evading arrest to driving under the influence and even assault, but how many times have we heard about people being falsely charged with assault by the police to justify or cover their actions.

After Andron was booked at the Rutherford County jail, they immediately took him to a cell, apparently within ear shot of his brother Octavius, who was able to hear Andron's screams as he was being beaten by Sheriff’s deputies. The TBI said Andron Reed was found unconscious and not moving by the jail house nurse who had him taken by ambulance to the Middle Tennessee Medical Center, where he later died.

TBI agents only have the information provided by the same jailers who may have murdered Andron. They claim that he was combative during the arrest and booking process. Since Andron Reed is dead he can't dispute the claim. If The TBI really is investigating the tragic death of this eighteen year old boy it will all hinge on the the autopsy. If it is a real autopsy and not another cover up, the results should tell us how Andron Reed died, or was murdered. If it is determined that he was murdered, one of the 'untouchable' police could actually be charged with the murder, something which almost never happens in the US unless the police are actually careless enough to be video recorded by witnesses while shooting an unarmed person in the back.

Bush is no longer the president and yet the corrupt police state he turned America into continues. Obama promised change, but has changed nothing about the egregious cruelty and abuse of authority by the police. Hundreds die in police custody each year, when will the American people rise up and say no more, no more tazer torture deaths, no more stripping naked and molesting of our wives, sons, and daughters, no more permanently disfiguring and disabling beatings. When will America start screening police applicants to weed out the sublimated sadists and killers? When will the legal system start punishing the police instead of consistently finding them innocent?

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August 17, 2009 By Raymond Ponzini