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A&E Axes “Live PD” After Protests and Controversy Over Deleted Footage of a Black Man’s Death

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1 year ago

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  • A&E canceled “Live PD” on Wednesday, following the ongoing George Floyd protests and controversy over the fact that it recorded, then deleted, footage of a black man’s fatal encounter with police.
  • The footage shows Javier Ambler, who was reportedly tased four times during the 2019 arrest, saying “I can’t breathe” and “Save me” before dying.
  • “Live PD” host Dan Abrams said footage is routinely deleted to keep the show from becoming “an arm of law enforcement,” and in this case, it was deleted after an investigation cleared officers of any wrongdoing.
  • Abrams also said, in retrospect, he wishes that footage would have been preserved.

A&E Cancels “Live PD“

After pulling new episodes last week, A&E officially announced Wednesday that it had canceled the series “Live PD.” Calls for the show to end grew amid ongoing protests since the killing of George Floyd. Those calls then escalated when it was discovered that the show deleted footage of a different black man’s death while being arrested by police in 2019.

During that incident, Javier Ambler told deputies in Williamson County, Texas that he couldn’t breathe before asking them to save him. The phrase “I can’t breathe” has also been associated with Eric Garner and Floyd, as well as other unarmed black men who died after being arrested by police. 

“Live PD” is the latest in a list of shows and films being re-examined since Floyd’s death. On Tuesday, Paramount canceled “Cops,” HBO temporarily removed “Gone with the Wind,” and Netflix pulled the British sketch show “Little Britain” for blackface. 

Last week, A&E cut short a marathon of “Live PD” and pulled new episodes that had been set to air. At the time, the network was said to have been re-evaluating the survival of the show. 

“Shocked & beyond disappointed about this,” the show’s host Dan Abrams said on Twitter following the news of its cancellation. “To the loyal #LivePDNation please know I, we, did everything we could to fight for you, and for our continuing effort at transparency in policing. I was convinced the show would go on. . More to come. .  .”

In a post on his site, lawandcrime.com, Abrams explained why the footage of Ambler’s death was deleted and not handed over to law enforcement or prosecutors. This is because the show is allowed to destroy unaired footage within 30 days unless a court order or other state or federal law requires it to be retained.

Abrams, however, said they held onto the footage of Ambler’s death for three months but no authorities ever asked them to hand over the footage. 

On Tuesday, A&E also made a similar statement, saying neither the network nor the show’s producers “were asked for the footage or an interview by investigators from law enforcement or the District Attorney’s office.”

After the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office concluded an internal affairs investigation into its officers—where it found no wrongdoing—”Live PD” deleted the video. 

In his post, Abrams said the show deletes footage so that it doesn’t “become an arm of law enforcement attempting to use ‘Live PD’ videos to prosecute citizens seen on the footage,” Still, he admitted that he wishes those tapes had been preserved and that the show’s policy should have had an exception to such a situation.

Abrams also went on to distance “Live PD” from shows like “Cops,” saying it instead follows officers in real-time and is more than just a “crazy highlight reel.”

Because of the nature of the show, A&E has also said the incident didn’t happen while the show was filming live and that the footage wasn’t aired later, either. 

Javier Ambler Dies

On March 28, 2019, a Williamson County deputy noticed that Ambler was driving with his high beams on and that he had failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic. 

That officer then reportedly flipped on his flashing lights, but instead of pulling over, Ambler then sped across highways and onto neighborhood streets for 22 minutes as the officer chased him. According to reports, Ambler also smashed into four stationary objects before crashing a final time. 

While dashcam footage of that chase hasn’t been released, local news outlets were able to obtain bodycam footage.

In it, an officer arrives several minutes after Ambler crashes his SUV. He runs up to Ambler, who is already surrounded by deputies. Another officer tells Ambler to put his hands behind his back or he will tase him again, implying that he already had at least once. According to information later released by the Williamson County’s Sheriff’s Office, he had been tased three times by this point.

From there, the video shows Ambler on the ground with police over him. All the while, he’s telling them that he has congestive heart failure. He then says, “I can’t breathe.” Ambler repeats that phrase as police grab his arms and try to handcuff him.

Deputies tell him to stop resisting. He says he’s not resisting. 

“Save me!” he cries out before being tased again.

During this, the officers keep trying to force his hands behind his back. At one point, an officer says he thinks he just broke Ambler’s finger.

From there, they eventually handcuff him; however, Ambler becomes unresponsive. Deputies search for a pulse but don’t find one. They then reportedly perform CPR for four minutes. 

Ambler ultimately died after being handed off to medics and doctors, who spent 50 minutes trying to save his life.

An autopsy later determined that Ambler had, in fact, died of congestive heart failure as well as hypertensive cardiovascular disease “in combination with forcible restraint.”

Report Finds No Wrongdoing From Officers

A death-in-custody report was later filed with the attorney general’s office, where Ambler’s manner of death was listed as a homicide, That report also noted that his homicide could have been “justifiable.” 

Notably, that report said Ambler did not attempt to nor did he assault deputies. It also said he didn’t verbally threaten others or attempt to get control of any officers’ weapons.

Alongside this report, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department conducted its internal affairs investigation, where those officers involved were cleared of violating the agency’s pursuit or use-of-force policies. 

Because of that, they haven’t faced any repercussions. 

Still, for 15 months, little was publicly known about Ambler’s death. In fact, his own parents said until last week, they didn’t know anything more than that he died in police custody. It was actually reporters who told them that he had died after a chase for a minor traffic violation.

On Tuesday, after the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV obtained the body cam footage, three of the four Williamson County commissioners called for Sheriff Robert Chody to resign.

Still, another investigation is being conducted by Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore. In a statement to the American-Statesman, she said her civil rights division plans to present the case to a grand jury.

“It is of very serious concern to any of us who are in law enforcement that the decision to engage in that chase was driven by more of a need to provide entertainment than to keep Williamson County citizens safe,” she said. 

Moore has criticized the show for existing in the first place, saying it puts police in the mindset of dramatizing their interactions with people.

Moore has also accused Chody of stonewalling and refusing to provide evidence, but Chody has dismissed those accusations as “misleading” and denounced the calls for his resignation as politically motivated. Chody also said his department is ready and willing to help Moore’s office. 

Invariably, part of the investigation into Ambler’s death will result in the question: Why did Ambler run if he just had his brights on?

It is possible that answer will never be learned, but according to Yale University psychology professor John Dovidio:

“[Black people] tend to see police as occupiers, as oppressors, as people who have mistreated them in the past.This is not just being paranoid; there’s enough historical evidence to make that credible.”

See what others are saying: (American-Statesman) (USA Today) (KVUE)

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Couple Slammed Over Slavery-Themed Pre-Wedding Photoshoot

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1 day ago

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July 22, 2021

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Many have expressed outrage at the duo for trying to romanticize slavery while others were left completely dumbfounded by the entire ordeal.

Photoshoot Goes Viral

A couple has come under fire after sharing images on Instagram from their slavery-themed pre-wedding photoshoot.


The photos show a Black man in shackles looking deeply into his white fiancé’s eyes before she works to releases him.


“1842. Days passed and everything changed, our love got stronger and stronger, he was no longer a slave, he was part of the family,” the post’s caption reads.


To indicate his transition from “slave” to family, a fourth image shows him wearing a long coat and top hat with well-shined shoes, as opposed to the white shirt, trousers, and straw hat he wore in the previous images.

Social Media Users React

It’s not immediately clear who these people are since the social media handle is redacted in the images circulating online.

Still, many have expressed outrage at the duo for trying to romanticize slavery while others were left just completely dumbfounded by this entire ordeal. Some also directed criticism at the photographer who agreed to the shoot, along with the hundreds of Instagram users who liked the original posts.

@cdntheplayers

#greenscreen #Slavery #Racism #White #WhitePeople #fyp #BlackTikTok #BLM #BlackLivesMatter

♬ I was Born by The River – Jabez

See what others are saying: (The Daily Dot) (Black Enterprise) (BET)

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Couple Whose Gender Reveal Sparked CA Wildfire Hit With 30 Charges, Including Involuntary Manslaughter

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2 days ago

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July 21, 2021

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The fire, which caused massive damage and took months to extinguish, also killed the head of an elite firefighting team.

Gender Reveal Sparks Deadly Wildfire

A couple whose gender reveal party sparked the El Dorado wildfire in Southern California earlier this year has pleaded not guilty after they were hit with 30 charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez triggered the fire in Yucaipa on Sept. 5 with a smoke bomb that exploded in especially dry and hot conditions.

By the time the fire was extinguished in November, it had burned over 22,000 acres of land, injured more than a dozen people, forced hundreds of evacuations, and destroyed at least 10 structures.

The blaze also took the life of 39-year-old Charlie Morton, the leader of an elite firefighting team who worked as a firefighter for 18 years.

“He’s fighting a fire that was started because of a smoke bomb. That’s the only reason he’s there,” San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said at a news conference.

Charges Include Involuntary Manslaughter

Authorities have charged the couple responsible for the wildfire with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter, three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures, and 22 misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing fire to the property of another.

The charges were filed after a grand jury heard 34 witness interviews over four days. A total of 434 exhibits were ultimately presented to the grand jury, leading to the indictment that was unsealed Tuesday.

After entering their not guilty pleas, the duo was released on their own recognizance until their next scheduled court date. CBS Los Angeles reported that they could face up to 20 years each if convicted as charged.

“You’re obviously dealing with lost lives, you’re dealing with injured lives, and you’re dealing with people’s residences that were burned and their land that was burned. That encompasses a lot of, not only emotion, but damage, both financially and psychologically,” Anderson explained at the press conference.

He also stressed that part of the reason the investigation and ultimate prosecution took so long was because authorities wanted to make sure justice was fully served.

“Given the scope and the impact of the El Dorado Fire on the land and lives of so many, particularly Charles Morton and his family, it was imperative that every investigation be completed within both federal and state agencies to provide a full, fair presentation to the members of our community,” he said.

See what others are saying: (CNN)(CBS)(NBC)

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Los Angeles County Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate Amid Rising Cases

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1 week ago

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July 16, 2021

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The renewed restrictions for the nation’s largest county come as coronavirus infections have been spiking across America, with new cases doubling in the last two weeks.

L.A. County Masks Up, Again

Starting Saturday, Los Angeles County will require people to wear face masks indoors again regardless of vaccination status as the nation’s most populous county grapples with a surge of COVID-19 cases.

In a press conference Thursday, L.A. County health officials pointed to low vaccination rates, a steady climb in new infections, and the rapid spread of the highly transmissible delta variant as driving factors behind the decision.

“We’re not where we need to be for the millions at risk of infection here in Los Angeles County, and waiting to do something will be too late given what we’re seeing now,” county Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment.”

Without providing full details, Davis said there would be some exceptions to the restrictions, including people being allowed to take off their masks while eating and drinking at restaurants.

The move comes as community transmission in the county has skyrocketed since June 15, when California reopened its economy and ended capacity limits, along with social distancing guidelines.

For the week-long period ending on that date, L.A. County had averaged 173 new coronavirus cases a day. Exactly one month later, those numbers have increased by nearly 580%, with the county reporting an average of 1,176 infections a day for the seven-day period ending July 15.

On Thursday, officials logged over 1,537 more cases — the highest figure since early March. Around 70% of COVID samples in the county from June 27 to July 3 were identified as delta variants.

Notably, the vast majority of those impacted have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. According to reports, between Dec. 7 and June 7, unvaccinated people made up 99.6% of L.A. County’s COVID cases, 98.7% of hospitalizations, and 99.8% of deaths.

Only five million of the more than 10 million residents in the county have been inoculated against the virus.

Cases Surge Across U.S.

L.A. County is not the only locality that has seen a spike in COVID cases, though it is one of the few that has taken firm action.

New cases largely driven by the delta variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says now accounts for nearly 60% of all infections in the U.S., have more than doubled in the last two weeks, according to The New York Times tracker.

The 14-day average has risen dramatically from 12,799 on July 1 to 28,315 on July 15.

According to The Times, 49 states have seen at least a 15% increase over the past 14 days, and 19 of those states are reporting double or more the number of new infections. Full outbreaks, largely concentrated in the South, have emerged in a number of states with low vaccination rates.

In the last two weeks, Arkansas, which is currently reporting the highest per capita COVID cases in America, has seen increases of 120% for new cases and 77% for hospitalizations. Florida and Tennesee have seen the most significant 14-day spikes in terms of population percentage, reporting surges of 232% and 373% respectively.

Some states and counties have begun to make additional safety recommendations. Officials in Mississippi, where cases have risen over 70% since July 1, have urged both vaccinated and unvaccinated senior residents to avoid large indoor gatherings.

Health officials in California’s Sacramento and Yolo counties also issued voluntary warnings this week for all residents to wear masks while indoors.

However, it remains to be seen whether more localities will reimpose mandatory requirements or restrictions as cases continue to swell and the delta variant proliferates. 

Rising cases in the U.S. and abroad also pose a more long-term threat to global efforts to fight the pandemic. On Thursday, the World Health Organization warned that the influx of new cases in many parts of the world will enhance the likelihood of more severe variants emerging that will be difficult to control with vaccinations.

The WHO also urged wealthier countries like the U.S. — where just over 50% of people are vaccinated despite the existence of supplies for all those eligible  — to send more jabs overseas.

See what others are saying: (The Los Angeles Times) (The New York Times) (The Associated Press)

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