Family of man killed by Philly police lodges federal class-action suit - Philly.com
A civil-rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court against Philadelphia and two police officers in the death of Brandon Tate-Brown, who was fatally shot by one of the officers during a struggle following a traffic stop in December. The suit, filed on behalf of Tate-Brown's mother, Tanya Brown-Dickerson, seeks to be certified by a judge as a class action, opening the door for other people who were subjected to excessive use of force by Philadelphia police to seek nonmonetary... Tate-Brown, 26, was driving a Dodge Charger from the rental company where he worked when he was stopped Dec. In April, attorney Brian R. Mildenberg filed a similar complaint in Common Pleas Court, and that was amended in July after the Police Department identified the officers and released surveillance video that showed part of the confrontation. The new complaint contains civil-rights claims, and seeks to be linked to a settled case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that monitors the city for racial profiling. The federal lawsuit calls for the court to supervise implementation of 91 recommendations contained in a U. S. Department of Justice report released in March to change the Police Department's deadly force practices. As with the previous complaints, the federal suit strongly suggests that police planted the gun in the car after Tate-Brown died. Source: www.philly.com
