Up until Thursday, the city of North Miami and its Police Department were not identifying the officer in the horrific Charles Kinsey police shooting case other than saying that the officer is a 30-year-old Hispanic male. During a Friday press conference, the city released the cop’s name.
The mayor of North Miami, Smith Joseph, as well as the city manager, Larry Spring, both black men (the chief of police in the city is also African American), gave a press conference Friday identifying the officer as Jonathan Aledda, a member of the SWAT team, who has been on the force for four years.
Aledda has been placed on an administrative leave. Spring also revealed that a second officer, Emile Hollant, was also put on leave without pay for “evidence of conflicting statements” (what most people know as lying).
Spring also gave a telephone number for residents to call if they have information about the shooting case, and said that North Miami police will be out in the community visiting residents and churches this weekend.
The shooting that Spring refers to took place Monday and has inflamed already intense passions about police mistreatment of black men. It involved a behavioral therapist, Kinsey, who was trying to calm an adult with autism when he was shot by police. Kinsey was on the ground with his hands raised and repeatedly asked police not to shoot. “All he has is a toy truck in his hand,” Kinsey yelled while the man sat next to him. “That’s all it is. There is no need for guns.”
Officer Aledda fired three times, and Kinsey was shot once in the leg and then handcuffed while he was bleeding. The incident was captured on video.
In the days since the case hit the media, the police union said that the officer was actually shooting at the young adult with autism.
Miriam Janice Rivers, who identified herself as the young man’s sister, spoke out on Facebook late Friday night, saying that her brother was traumatized by the incident and that police left him locked in a car for four hours, despite repeatedly being told that he was autistic.
Rivers said that her brother Arnaldo had to be hospitalized afterward and now has episodes of screaming, intense fear and flailing while sleep. He also asks for “Charles” while crying.
Rivers said that her mother is “mortified, perplexed, angry and appalled” and that she herself is “just tired.” Rivers also said, “But this isn’t over.”