Quite often, our first introduction to a story of an unjust police use of force that leads to a fatality is by a news agency reiterating the surviving police officer's report of what happened later that day.  All too often, when that initial story comes under question due to irregularities, footage, or surprise witnesses coming forward with contradictory data, the media and the local authorities try their best to ignore the same.  

This incident which takes place in Eaton County, roughly 150 miles away is one of those stories.  Early reports of the story indicate a struggle occurred, doesn't indicate what was involved and has the state police offering their version before their investigation.  Since then video from the officer's body cam has surfaced, yet the video from his vehicle was not available and would have settled quite a bit.  The officer's account of the events has been called into question. 

But even with some damning evidence to the contrary, the prosecutor's opinion on why he wouldn't be seeking any charges is a surreal read, even more so than our own prosecutor's opinion about why a state trooper was justified for shooting Bill Marble in his home one year before this teen's death. 

So instead of subscribing to the exposed fiction of the police report, instead of accepting that report as gospel as the mainstream news did, or trying to piece together a mythology of apologism as created by the Eaton County Prosecutor, I present the family's statement they made after the prosecutor chose unaccountability back in June, followed by the raw video of the event which they had access to.

“Around 8:00pm on February 28, 2015, our 17 year old son and brother, Deven Guilford, was killed as a result of being shot seven times by Eaton County Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Jonathan Frost. At the time, Deven was merely traveling to his girlfriend’s house after playing basketball at his church. Deven was stopped by the officer because Deven flashed his bright lights to alert the oncoming officer that his brights appeared to be on. Notably, Deven was the third person that the officer had pulled over that night for flashing brights at the officer, who was driving a brand new police vehicle with high-intensity head-lights. During this traffic stop, it appears that Deven was puzzled and confused about why he was pulled over and why he was being confronted by the officer. It appears that the officer did not make any reasonable inquiry of Deven that could have helped ease the tensions of the situation.

The Eaton County Prosecutor, after reviewing the investigation by the Michigan State Police has determined to not bring any criminal charges against Sgt. Frost. Based on what we know at this time, our family believes that our son should not have been killed on the night in question.

There was no reason or necessity for the officer to physically remove our son from the car without considering other options to avoid an unnecessary violent escalation. These options could have included, keeping Deven in the car to allow more time for the incident to cool down and/or wait for other officers to arrive. It must be also noted that Deven was not in possession or any weapon and emphatically told the officer that he was not armed. We also have serious concerns about whether the officer used unreasonable force against Deven under the circumstances. In this regard, there are questions about whether Deven should have been tased on the side of the roadway and whether the officer had the right to shoot and kill Deven in these circumstances. Ultimately, we encourage those want more information about the encounter to view the full video of the traffic stop leading up to the physical altercation between Deven and the officer. This video is available through the Michigan State Police Department and the Eaton County Prosecutor’s office. We believe this video raises more questions than answers regarding whether Deven should be alive today.

We respect the thoroughness of the investigation and the Prosecutor’s decision. However, we intend to pursue other remedies to vindicate Deven’s civil rights.”

http://wlns.com/2015/06/16/deven-guilfords-family-responds-to-prose...

The case seemed very egregious to Oscar nominated documentary film producer/editor Matthew Cooke who looked into the case and created a video that summarized the basic issues behind the traffic stop, and whether the parties acted appropriately.  He reviews the relevant parts of the video, the background of both, and several inconsistencies.

The terrible thing that such an event shows is that an officer who violates his own training, protocols and the law in becoming what Matthew Cooke appropriately calls a 'bully' killed a young man for trying to let the officer know his beams were blinding other drivers.  The officer who chose to escalate the situation against an unarmed, peaceful, law-abiding, and courteous boy before shooting him seven times, still patrols his beat, while Guilford's heart will never beat again. 

The 'news' of this story is that the family has filed a lawsuit seeking redress.  Unfortunately, even if the survivors get a fair settlement from the pockets of the taxpayers who allow such poorly acting officers to exist, it can't bring their son and brother back.

Deven Guilford Lawsuit. pdf

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It is painfully obvious that the officer was out looking for trouble. Many officers take out their frustration on the public they are supposed to be serving and the emperor complex that many of them exhibit all to often leads to conflicts that could have been avoided. All officers need to have mental evaluations on a regular basis to determine if they are competent to deal with the public. You could tell that the officer in this situation was playing a game with the teen in order to show the teen who was the boss. As far as the Eaton County Prosecutor from hell is conserned, I can only say I feel sorry for the citizens of Eaton County and anyone who has the misfortune to have to deal with him in court.

Very well said Willy, I totally agree. I might like to add to this very type of scenario: all tooooo many Police vehicles have a very high low beam on those police vehicles, esp. the SUV's. Now in 2015 we have LED lights, much more brighter, and intense! I have made this point to many LE agencies in the past, going back about 30 years now. I have also been stopped for no other reason than just what this teen did, to avoid a possible accident, injury, and for the sake of safety. Police vehicles should get their vehicles checked to make sure their headlights are within the limits of safe driving per the State of Michigan, or any other State of the Union. I think it's a very intentional directional lighting that gives the LE officer the benefit of the doubt, it's not just a coincidence! Will any car companies ever admit to this? Or is it done where the vehicles are received and checked out for duty? Luckily, I obeyed and provided the reasons and paperwork the officer requested, so, even though I was in the right, the incident was diffused so no action was taken. That doesn't make this right though. And for the teen to have been not only tased, but then shot seven times without any good and legal cause, makes me sick! This is "LE gone WILD", and totally out-of-control, imho. It's what ALL OF US face in any nighttime driving nowadays, and for all too many years already. I remember changing the headlight factory settings for many years on many past vehicles I owned, so I could plainly and accurately see the road. Methinks the settings for these headlights are not the same comparing Police vehicles vs. citizen's vehicles, it's very obvious if you are followed by any LE vehicle, now, and in the past. RIP Deven, you didn't deserve this fate, and so, your parents and family should pick up the banner for true justice, not just accept this travesty as ordinary and unfortunate. 

And I completely concur with your assessment Aquaman.  It's hard to believe that the officer who murdered that boy is still roaming the streets with a gun. This was not a mistake committed by the officer but an intentionally conceived plan to harass people with his lights and to exercise his misguided authority . The fact that the situation escalated to murder only shows how bad some police officers are. These kinds of officers must be taken off the streets. 

Absolutely Willy, point well taken, and is just common sense to the public. The Officer even admitted he had 2-3 other citizens making the same assessment on his headlights. That in itself says all! He knew, he didn't adjust, and continued to use this weak LE excuse to harass others in his path. WHY? Was it his quota system that blurred his vision? Or his obvious arrogance and badge? Either way, he needs to face, second degree murder charges, in addition to firing and loss of any future benefits, just to start! 

So I followed this story and your post doesn't make sense.  They male was on top of the officer beating him.....I don't see how you feel this wasn't justified.  I also noticed you didn't post the picture of the officers face.....Lets share both sides of the story pal, must be one of those anti-law enforcement characters.

Are you watching the same video I posted?  At about 4:00 in, the officer after communicating with Deven and getting answers to his questions in an otherwise unwarranted stop, opens the boys door and violently assaults him, he then threatens corporal punishment to make the young man out and onto the street with traffic passing by.  Is this acceptable to you at this point, given what has happened-- the boy flashed the officer because his high beams seemed to be on?

Conveniently, the officer's dash cam did not record the rest, but we hear the officer tasering the youth followed by hard to determine action, due to the limitations of the video recording.  One thing you hear is a physical scuffle, but only the clear sound of Deven screaming as his life gets snuffed out.

Real Talk, I presented the last investigative reporting video, which shows a picture of the officer's face and the officer's report of him being on top of the officer.  I see repeated, needless assaults against Deven before he may have taken action because he was "in fear for his life".  Unless you are better at video forensics than the professionals, your statement about Deven being on top is irresponsible, as there is no concrete proof of that due to the officer's negligence.  There is solid video proof, however, that the officer acted out of his training protocols and used unnecessary force to terrorize this cooperative boy before killing him.

If you don't mind, please watch the second video throughout and critique that, so our readers can see what state of mind you are coming from.

And lest we forget, Deven will never be able to provide his side of the story, because of this out of control officer operating right down the highways you may travel.  You may forgive law enforcers who break the law and their professional training repeatedly, you shouldn't, because the only people who generally do are fellow officers and other 'justice' officials who break the laws themselves.

I did watch the second video Tommy.  The video is an opinion of some anti-law enforcement male.  If Deven would have just given him what he asked for, it seems that it would have went a lot quicker and he would have been alive.  Obviously you are anti police and no matter what anyone says, you will not believe it.  Deven is what's wrong with our teenage generation.  He felt he was smarter and believed he did not have to obey commands and orders given to him.  The video shows the officers body cam go dark which would me Deven would have been on top of him covering it up.  How was Deven in fear of his life?  The officer asked him to put his hands behind his back and he didn't.  By not doing so, it looks as if he got tased.  Obviously the taser didn't work and Deven attacked him.  Is that what a reasonable human would do?  I don't think so.  Hopefully you don't have children X, or else their beliefs will be based on your anti-police beliefs and they will act just like Deven.  Instead, they should be brought him to obey orders and commands given by, parents, teachers, law enforcement and any person with authority. 

What a silly argument for that guy to make by saying Deven, 17, didn't have a criminal history and his parents saying, they don't believe he was ever in a fight.  Well, at some point people start a criminal history somewhere and looks like Deven's was that's night.

RealTalk

The World is full of ifs and buts. If Deven would have done this, if Deven would have done that. How about if the officer hadn't Knowingly driven around with excessively bright lights and pulled over motorists who were courteously trying to inform the officer about his lights. Let's lay the blame on the origin of this tragedy. The inconsiderate and suspiciously unstable officer who caused this and who we all can tell was obviously looking for trouble.

Real Talk,

I can't improve much over what Willy said, but I would advise you that over the last seven years of posting articles and opinions here on the Ludington Torch I have posted nothing that I would consider being anti-police; you mistake my pro-accountability for all public officials as such. 

I could point you to several articles/videos/comments I have posted over the years that applaud the fine work of accountable law enforcement personnel that follow their training and their duties (often to their detriment, such as Former Police Chief Dan Miller of Wayland and Former Sheriff Jeff Fiers).  But I make it a point to put the torchlight on unaccountable officers and their often unaccountable departments. 

The kids I helped raise are great kids that respect authorities, but unlike you, they basically know their rights, the extent of the authorities' power, and are able to discern when authorities behave badly. 

I was wondering the same thing. Did Real Talk actually watch the video before commenting? If so then he must be visually impaired.

Funny Willy, Real Talk can't Real Read. Else he has some link and video of LE he wants to share to make a cogent point. So, what tis it then RT? See X, you now have a new pal, lol. 

There is a significant portion of the population that will see some of the many police beat downs and executions of innocent people that seem to continually make themselves available and create a storyline that supports the officer's actions.  Unfortunately, what you don't hear very often are police officers decrying unprofessional behavior of their fellow officers. 

Like Real Talk, they would rather read what's on the police report and accept it as fact rather than look at all the empirical evidence, and disbelieve anything the victim may say, if they can still talk.  These people would look at the second video above and want to beat down the narrator, whereas your typical person would be trying to separate the hyperbole from the reality and try to sanely evaluate the points raised.  One thing I would say is highly suspicious in the after-event proceedings is the unwillingness to immediately release the video by the police, the apparent stopping of the video at an important part of the scuffle, the lack of any immediate recording of the officer's injuries, the lack of any sounds of the officer expressing pain or attempts to control a situation turned against him, the loss of dash cam evidence from an experienced officer, etc. 

Real Talk will not ever want to really talk about such things in a serious manner.

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