I'm a cop who thinks there's something fitting about SPD being the agency that killed Clemmons. I'll bet my brothers feel this too. Justice in more ways than one.

Well, best way to get him. I don't want to pay tax after any of the criminal just to have theire "house, food and amusement" in jail. Good job officer :)

The perfect ending for a cop killer: capital punishment by cop.

A good ending to a killer of a fellow officer.

To all Police Officers: THANK YOU for serving and protecting. May the families and friends of our fallen Officers find peace knowing justice has been served.

Family or not, how can someone in good conscience aid & abet a cold bloodied killer? Let's hope Clemmons'e peeps get some appropriate jail time for not turning him in.

i have a problem with this:
"They're going to pay for it."

since when is the purpose of punishment retribution?

those who helped him did something immoral, yes. society expects that when a person of interest is identified, we all join in the implied obligation to assist, however, those who choose not to assist are not criminals - they are NOT maurice clemmons.

should those who help others, regardless of the circumstance, be held accountable for providing that help? is their 'crime' knowing he was a wanted man and helping anyway? what is the crime there?

just putting this out there. i am glad this guy is no longer on the streets and my heart goes out to the families of the impacted officers. i hate that things like this happen and i admire the bravery of the officers who face tough times every day on the streets.

my concern is about us, as a society, and how we treat one another.

Wow! There is insufficient evidence to support the conclusion that Clemmon's was actually guilty. I by no means support violence against officers or anybody, but this is not the justice on which America stands. What if he's innocent. The media acts like Clemmon's had a fair trial. If he wasn't armed when the officer shot and killed him then his civil rights were violated in so many ways. In Tennessee v. Garner the Supreme Court stated that it was a violation of due process to kill a felon for fleeing the scene unless there was a reasonable danger. If Clemmon's started fleeing without a weapon there was no danger. This behavior cannot be tolerated. Justice wasn't served here today. All it is a an individual taking the law into his own hands. What is the constitution for?
It's understandable for officers to feel the need to retaliate but they have a duty to serve and protect, not take the law into their own hands and run the streets. Tax dollars are now going to go into a civil suit.

I by no means intend to belittle the sacrifice and bravery of police officers. It is truly shameful that someone would commit such an atrocious crime. I send my condolences to their families, and thank officers for their sacrifices.

Clemons had weapon of one of the slain in his possession. Clemons was advancing on an officer who had stopped to check a vehicle that was later identified as a stolen vehicle. Cop ordered Clemons to stop. He did not. He was reaching into the pocket where the weapon was found.

As is always the story in cases like these, the people commenting on the web have only limited information.

We don't know for certain the circumstances of this morning when Mr. Clemmons was shot dead. We don't know if he was fleeing the scene empty-handed, if he had a gun in his hand, or if he was reaching for the gun. The reports so far have been ambiguous.

We can say that the police should not shoot people who are fleeing the scene empty-handed.

As for those who helped Mr. Clemmons evade capture, Candice asked "is their 'crime' knowing he was a wanted man and helping anyway? what is the crime there?" The crime there is accomplice after the fact. They are accomplices to murder. It is an extremely grave crime. Moreover, they have a share of Mr. Clemmons' blood on their hands. If they had done the proper and responsible thing - helped to get him arrested in a more controlled situation - he might have been taken into custody instead of shot dead.

Did a Washington State Judge declare open season on police when he granted bail to a convicted felon?

At least the fiend received final justice for his heinous murders. Kudo's to the officer (all by himself in the early a.m.) for being ready to save his own life and others from the deranged demon. Just a split second of indecision can spell doom for an officer. A policeman can't open Vernon's Annotated Law Books or Blacks to read and determine from other cases if he is justified in shooting a suspect, it is a now or never decision and thankfully, he did the Now.
A medal is in order but the flags are draped and the murdered now just corpses. The judicial system of bail, dropped cases, and commutation of sentence by a politician seeking the highest post is an abomination and 100% responsible for putting this demon on the streets.

yeeah kill that sucker I am glad he is dead, do not let this monster live just kill it

i know what the crime is called (accomplice after the fact) but my question is more to what that actually MEANS.

Yes - [the crime committed by clemmons] is an extremely grave crime

Yes - The [morally] proper and responsible thing [for friends/family to do is the ideal behavior]

what my qualm is centers around the PURPOSE of something like a law to punish an accomplice "after the fact"

can it be anything other than retribution? in this case, it sounds like retribution is all it's about, which is concerning.

i know it tickles the brain a bit, but sometimes there are laws that are unjust. is accomplice after the fact just if the purpose is retribution? i don't know. i'm asking rhetorically.

The suspect was armed and considered dangerous. He refused to show his hands and had a gun on him. The officer was justified to shoot and made the right decision in doing so. As for the accomplices, aiding a wanted man is a crime, and they deserve to go to prison. I also agree with the above comments that Clemmons blood is partially on their hands because they did not turn him in. Ethically, I am sad Clemmons was shot and didn't get a trial through the justice system. However personally I am not going to lie, I am happy he was shot and the world is a better place now that he is dead.

I'm a Dept of Corrections Officer and feel that tight budgets have upset our justice driven society. I can't imagine letting a criminal loose that has 195 years hanging over his head loose after serving just a few years of that sentence, ok lets imagine that for some odd reason we feel that this clemency may have been justified, how can society tolerate an offense like rape of a child and assault on a police, set his bail at a fraction of what it should have been, and not feel at least some responsibilty for the crime this monster committed.

Candice --

1. It's a deterrent more than retribution. Not just immoral to help commit a crime (before/after the fact) but illegal. The morality of it isn't why it's illegal.

2. Clemmons could well have escaped thanks to the help of these accomplices and gone on to assault/rape/kill again. Are you sure it's OK to not hold people responsible for rendering that aid? How about if he went on to hurt you or someone you know?

Let that tickle your brain for a bit.

i dont support violence in any form but something seems really odd in this situation.

It seems like an odd coincidence that Clemmons would be carrying one of the officers pistols on him from the inceident. How would he have had time to gather himself and take their weapons.

Even if he was guilty i believe the police force planted the gun on him after they were done unlawfully.

I don't remember all of this indignation when cops kill blacks. That happens way more than Blacks killing cops. If we looked at American history since say 1950 How many innocent black men would you say that the cops have murdered in cold blood? 100? 500? 1000? and since that same time how many cops were murdered in cold blood by a black man 10? 25? 100? My heart goes out to the families of these Overseers, whoops I meant officers. But at the same time my heart goes out to people like Sean Bell who was murdered on his wedding night by NYPD. Was there a memorial service in some domed sporting venue for Mr. Bell? No. Black men and cops have been mortal enemies since this countries inception, and believe me we didn't fire the first (or first hundred) shot(s). It is what it is. Casualties of a war that's been going on since what the 1500's? I really do feel for the families of these officers, but like I said at the beginning of my comment, where is all of the front page headlines and indignation when black men are gunned down by the police??

I understand I ask a very controversial question and it may be bad timing but that doesn't make the question any less relevant. Please do your best to at least come up with an at least halfway decent rebuttal. Don't just dismiss it and fire insults. Why is this so different than Police murdering Black men?

I am glad that this man was apprehended one way or another. We do need to be thankful for the police officers whom do their jobs and don't abuse thier badges, as many do. There are so many fine lines in the justice system; from the streets to the jailhouse's. Our system is so greatly flawed as we all know. The only true area of concern here is to whether or not Clemmons was lucid at the time of these murders. I know his mental health status is of no consequence to the officers whom lost their Brethren or to the families of the slain officers, yet in still it is definitely a factor that will be analyzed and should be considered.
We ignore mental illness when it comes to haneous crimes because it seems irrelevant to those of us it doesn't affect directly.
No excuses for this man, may he rot. But mental illness is definitely going to come up again in the days to come regarding this tragedy.

http://tinyurl.com/no5knk

From the article "List of 2008 homicides in Seattle" from the Seattle PI

selected from the list of the 28 Seattle homicides in 2008....

Allen Joplin, Jan. 4 -- black killed by black

De'Che Morrison, Jan. 10 -- black killed by black

Maurice "Moe" Allen Jr., Jan. 26 -- black killed by black

Degene Barecha, Jan. 30 -- black killed by black

Perry Henderson, Feb. 6 -- black killed by black

Stephan Dwaine Stewart, April 2 -- black killed by black

Eldora Earlycutt, July 4 -- black killed by black

James Paroline, July 10 -- white killed by black

Troy Peters, July 22 -- black killed by black

Pierre Lapoint, Aug. 5 -- black killed by black

Jane Kariuki, Oct. 16 -- woman of unknown race killed by black man named Christel D. Murphy

Quincy S. Coleman, Oct. 31 -- black killed by black

Edward McMichael, the "Tuba Man", Nov. 3 -- white killed by multiple blacks

Nathaniel Lee Thomas, Nov. 23 -- black killed by black

So by my count blacks (8% of Seattle) were the killers in at least half (that's at least 50%) of the murders in the Seattle area in 2008. At least five of the other murderers were latinos.

The numbers are actually worse for 2009 and approach the 85% mark.

To "Real Talk":

Grow up and wake up to reality.

Black people have very little if anything to fear from the cops or even the KKK or "white racists".

Blacks have FAR MORE to fear from OTHER BLACK PEOPLE.

At least 94% of all blacks murdered here in the U.S.A. are murdered by other blacks.

About 2,500 black people were lynched by white racists in the entire history of the USA.

Approximately 8,000 black people are murdered in the USA every year, according to the US Department of Justice.
At least 94% of the murderers of those black victims are also black, also according to the US Department of Justice.
94% of 8000 = 7520
====================================
icasualties.org
Iraq Coalition Military Fatalities By Year
Year USA UK Other Total
2003 486 53 41 580
2004 849 22 35 906
2005 846 23 28 897
2006 822 29 21 872
2007 904 47 10 961
2008 314 4 4 322
2009 141 1 0 142
Total 4362 179 139 4680
===================================
Afghanistan Coalition Military Fatalities By Year
Year US UK Other Total
2001 12 0 0 12
2002 49 3 17 69
2003 48 0 9 57
2004 52 1 7 60
2005 99 1 31 131
2006 98 39 54 191
2007 117 42 73 232
2008 155 51 89 295
2009 290 95 85 470
Total 920 232 365 1517
=======================================
4680 (TOTAL Coalition fatalities in Iraq for the entire 7 years of war) + 1517 (TOTAL Coalition fatalities in Afghanistan in the entire 9 years war) = 6179
--------------------------

7520 (approximate number of blacks killed by blacks every single year in the USA) - [minus] 6179 (TOTAL number of Coalition fatalities in the entire nine years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined) = 1,341

Thus it is now shown that at least 1,341 more blacks are killed by other blacks in the United States EVERY SINGLE YEAR than the entire number of Coalition fatalities in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined (a period of nine years).

Put another way, in the nine years of the Afghanistan and Iraq war combined, about 6179 Coalition fatalities have occurred (this number includes accidents).

In that same nine year period, in the USA alone, approximately 67,680 black people were murdered by other black people (9 x 7520 = 67,680).

That is over TEN TIMES the amount of Coalition soldiers killed in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined.

I have not even included non-black victims of blacks murderers.

The numbers here represent only black people killed by other black people in the USA over the 9 years of war.

To Miss Justice: Shooting Mr. Clemmons as he turned to flee would satisfy Garner because he represented a continuing threat, making lethal force an option for his capture and arrest. There may well be a civil suit to follow, after all this is America. However, your other statements are rash. If Mr. Clemmons was shot in the back running away, it would be a "good" shooting under Garner.

Miss Justice,
You are very wrong in your application of Tenn v Garner. That case involved a juvenile fleeing a property crime (Burglary). No reason to believe he posed a threat to anyone if he fled. This case was a known armed and dangerous murder suspect who had killed four people! There is a reasonable expectation that if he flees he poses a risk to murder others!

Miss Justice,
Next time you are in an accident, being mugged, have your house broken into etc etc DO NOT call a police officer. He just might be doing something to protect someone, putting his life on the line for them. Next time PLEASE file a law suit against the one who just ran into you, mugged you, raped you or kidnapped a family member. These brave men and women put their lives on the line everyday for the citizens of their community. They have less than a split second to make a decision and if it is the wrong one it may cost them their lives. Miss Justice don't waste their time calling them to help you - file a law suit against the one who has violated YOUR rights, don't bother us!

Miss Justice,
Next time you are in an accident, being mugged, have your house broken into etc etc DO NOT call a police officer. He just might be doing something to protect someone, putting his life on the line for them. Next time PLEASE file a law suit against the one who just ran into you, mugged you, raped you or kidnapped a family member. These brave men and women put their lives on the line everyday for the citizens of their community. They have less than a split second to make a decision and if it is the wrong one it may cost them their lives. Miss Justice don't waste their time calling them to help you - file a law suit against the one who has violated YOUR rights, don't bother us!

I can't help but wonder if this is another example of police being dishonest like we all know they are so that they could have revenge..let's hope not

To all law enforcement officers who do their job right and a have a good heart, i respect yall to the fullest and have much love for yall. But the police officers that trys to bully the people, call blacks nig--rs and shoot and beat people just because they feel like it, i hope all of you get the badges blown right off of your chest, we need to line all of you up and execution style all of yall misfits.

E rat:

The only people calling blacks "niggers" any more are other blacks.

Also, practically the only people killing blacks (or beating them up, or robbing them, etc etc) are other blacks.

At least 94% of all blacks murdered in the USA are murdered by other blacks... not cops, not racist whites, not anybody else. Just blacks.

It's quite simple.

Who would you rather have in your town?

Mr Clemmons or the officer who shot him.

Thank you officer from protecting everyone. The citizens as well as other officers Mr Clemmons may have come in contact with.

Thank you for protecting. Not "from" protecting

i am so glad that you or all on the job i am sorry that we lost 4 of or best in Tacoma but i wish the shooter wood have surfed lick the females of his victims will for the rest of there life's i send mi gratitude to them and you how try to keep us safe i now those that or gone will be missed all i can say is thank you all

How many white people have to be murdered before we admit there is a race war going on right now.

Lenching is no better. There are some good cops and some bad cops. Just like there are good and bad non officers. I do not believe in killing not even as revenge. But since revenge was served on a cold block, let the family go and get over their loved ones last days or not give a stiff punishment. He would have not made it anyway. He was a dead man walking. The system failed him when they hung. Unleashing him on to the world when he was documented unstable. A simple case of someone lost the paperwork. The police are here to protect and serve. Is it always equal? An officer just battered a teenage girl in a holding tank. Anyone can make a mistake. But the whole world is trigger happy and quick to flip off at the mouth instead of finding a common root of the problem. Diagnosis and then treat. Times are so different and it is scary. Put the guns down. Find a way to offer a fair trail and allow the courts to do theirs. Control the the anger. Pay attention to your children because they one day will have to save us all. I pray for the officers that lost their life and they did not deserve to be taken away so soon. And I pray for the famillies of the killers and know you will too overcome your lose. We will never know some people are so cold and hurtful. We are truely in our last days. Pray For Peace! Put Down The Heat! Find better ways to deal with the weak. In the beginning...Cause & Effect
I love you all......

wow..there is someone on here that actually thinks clemmon's rights were violated? LOL SURE. He's a cop killer.....when the officer saw him he knew it was him, asked him to stop and he ran. Clemmons had a gun of one of the officers in his posession. what more do we need folks? What is so hard to understand. HE IS FRIGGIN GUILTY. Clear criminal history, has been given 90 years in prison and was let out....what else do people need? you dont get assigned ato 90 years in prison for no reason what so ever. Has anyone seen the letter/info that Mike Huckabee signed off on to let Clemmons out of prison? I have. Unbelieveable. I see no civil suit here. He got what was coming. Thought people were cannibals and that he saw people drinking blood and eating babies....and thats normal? oh and his brothers are Obama and Lebron James. SUUUREEE.

Dear Miss Justice: What about the rights of the 4 police officers that were ambushed for no reason? get a clue lady...get a clue. I agree with the retired officer...do yourself a favor, dont call law enforcement when you need help...just sue someone. sounds like you're sue happy...knock yourself out. You seriously think that this officer that shot and killed Clemmons did it for no reason? LOL are you kidding me? you are really dellusional. This guy was a cop killer...his entire history has to do with cops. Maybe you should educate yourself a bit more...people like you is what makes smart people roll their eyes. Find something else to do please, you're wasting our time. I'll bet you're the type that says his family did nothing wrong, by helping him get away. Hmmmm...he had a gunshot wound in the abdomen from the shooting on sunday when one of the 4 officers got a shot off on him and you say "what if he was innocent?" HELLLOOOOOOOO NOT INNOCENT. Gee..if he was, why didnt he get that wound fixed? because he couldnt, hospitals were on watch...why? BECAUSE HE'S GUILTY.

Killer of all kinds, not just cop killers, deserve the full strength of the law down on their heads. Seems we missed the part about trial by a jury of our peers in this one, tho'. I guess the lesson here is don't mess with cops. Where's the "frontier justice" for the rest of us?

Response to Miss Justice...I live here in the area where it happened and quite frankly, I don't give a rats ass about "his" rights. He did something that was beyond any reasoning on this earth. And he was armed.
With a gun he stole from one of the officers he killed. He deserved what he got and it was very fitting. Saved us tax payers tons of money in legal defense fees and jail. I could care less if his family rots in hell. They were in on it. They helped him. They knew his next intended victims were to be children. He planned on killing as many as he could. As the Bible says, "an eye for eye" and I've always been a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. It's people like this that give the rest of the black community a bad name. And I could give rats ass that he was black. When you murder someone, particularly an officer, as far as I'm concerned, you just signed all your rights away. See, in our state, if any civian had been present with a concealed weapon permit and a weapon, Clemons would have been killed on the spot. And guess what??? The person who would have killed him would "not" have any charges brought against them. Because of the danger that guy presented. I'm sick of it being a black civil rights thing. What about the rights of the Officers??? Maybe you would be ok with someone killing someone in your family just because they didn't like where they worked or what type of job they did. Same principle with the officers. They were killed for the uniform they wore. Because people like you and Clemons, and so many like him, are so busy blaming cops when they get into trouble and break the law. Well, guess what?? And this is for all losers out there, as they say, "commit they crime, do the time". If you don't want to get into trouble or go to jail, then I guess you shouldn't be doing whatever it is or was that got you/them arrested. Start taking responsibility for yourselves and your actions. Stop blaming everyone else for the choices you make. Act like a loser, get treated like one. Sorry, you get no sympathy from me. The officers however, get my respect 100%.

Response to Jaci and others:
I can't believe how many stupid people are on here trying to defend this guy. He was guilty.
The guy walked into the coffee shop, stood in front of the cash register with the pretext of ordering something, turned and shot the cops. And guess what??? There was a video camera in the coffee shop. Not to mention surrounding businesses. Tell me, how would you feel if it had happened in your location and he did murder a group of young kids in addition to officers, just because he wanted to, and yours was one of the kids murdered?? Would you still think he didn't deserve to be killed if he was pulling a gun out on an officer?? Look, there is a lot about the story that those of you across the country are evidently not aware of, so it would behoove you to not run your mouths about something you know nothing about. The cop who shot him, had no choice. Clemmons was reaching for the gun in his waist belt. He refused to stop. The officer did what he had to do, or we would have 5 dead officers. Clemmons died the way he lived and he died the same way those officers died.

If you are a typical naive clueless Seattle white liberal progressive, and you waste any time defending or feeling sympathy for this monster or any of his criminal associates, then I hope you get violently attacked by the very black criminals that you love to coddle and make excuses for.

http://tinyurl.com/yjzyyxq

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-affidavitsreleased-120409,0,2635245.story

Gang members targeted white victims in Denver attacks

DENVER - Police believe a series of violent attacks in downtown Denver between July 17 and September 20 of this year were motivated by racial hatred of white people by the black suspects.

Explosive new information revealed today, in the arrest warrants issueed to nearly three dozen gang members accused in a series of attacks in the LoDo area. Police say the attacks have occured over the last four months, involving numerous victims, some of whom were beaten severely and seriously injured.

Arrest affidavits realeased by the Denver Police Department show a pattern of racially charged statements by the attackers preceding most of the attacks.

According to the documents, the suspects told police they specifically targeted white men, they called "crackers". They would approach a victim saying things like "it smells like white people" and "i hate (expletive) white people." The suspects told police they felt two black gangs "owned" sections of LoDo near The Bash nightclub and wanted to beat up white men in that area to teach them not to come downtown unless they "brought their friends for protection.'

Many of the suspects were blunt in their motivations when they were interviewed by detectives.

The suspects told police the beatings were part of gang initiations and that gang members could gain status by "beating up white dudes." Other motives were money and robbery. The suspects allegedly stole cash, credit cards and cell phones. And told police they robbed the white people because the victims had a lot of money.

Many of the attacks were caught on downtown surveillance cameras. In some cases, it appears the suspects knew the cameras were there but did not seem to care.

Police made the arrests following a lenghty undercover operation.

FOX 31 has posted the affidavits in their entirety next to this story.

WARNING: affidavits contain graphic and racist language.