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News & ArtsWednesday, December 2, 2009
Crime Picture of Deceased Maurice Clemmons
Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 2:30 PM
We just received this statement from the SPD:
The Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office have been made aware of an image circulating of deceased suspect Maurice Clemmons.All three agencies have launched their own internal investigations to determine the origin of the image in question.
Is this the offending photo? If so, what's the big deal? Okay, the PI says it was taken with a cell phone.
UPDATE: It appears that the photo is over here (NSFW).
1
That's funny, I saw it earlier today. It's a photo of him on a gurney being loaded into an ambulance. Not a very good photo.
I don't remember where I saw it, though. Sorry.
I don't remember where I saw it, though. Sorry.
8
I don't think that's the photo.. otherwise, they could just check that page and see it was taken by Robert Sorbo/Reuters.
9
The article states the photo was "unauthorized."
Where do I need to apply for authorization to take photos in public? What branch or department of government handles that? is there a downloadable or electronic form for it?
Where do I need to apply for authorization to take photos in public? What branch or department of government handles that? is there a downloadable or electronic form for it?
10
From blog.seattlepi.com: "That this photo may have been passed around as some kind of joke is in incredibly poor taste and not really our mission," Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.
- I didn't realize that the Seattle police were the guardians of good taste. Who knew?
- I didn't realize that the Seattle police were the guardians of good taste. Who knew?
11
I'm curious as to whether law enforcement agencies feel that the photo endangers the medical personnel in it... that's the only explanation I can think of.
12
wow, SPD actually has time to care about something like this? maybe we really do need more real crime in this town.....just sayin'
13
it's a camera phone photo. i saw it yesterday. it's a little suspicious because it seemed rather well lighted for being a 2am thing. but perhaps it was taken later in the day?
14
I have a photo forwarded to me under the subject "justice is served" that is a very small (11kb, 166x125px) jpeg showing a man's head and torso and sheet covering his groin, apparently on a gurney, possibly taken inside the ambulance from directly above.
16
I think this is the photo in question -- pretty much the same as @14 described (NSFW):
http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning-n…
http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning-n…
17
Crap, needed to be signed in for the link to work. Here it is again:
http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning-n…
http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning-n…
20
Ew.
Not thankful for the invention of the internet today. Never thankful for the invention of the camera-phone.
Not thankful for the invention of the internet today. Never thankful for the invention of the camera-phone.
21
Put some cranberry sauce, stuffing and mash potatoes next to him and there's something to be Thankful for.
23
The whole thing is just a fuckin' tragedy.
Looking at his big dead self, all I can think of is him standing in front of the judge begging to be locked up for 'dangerous crazy'. Too god-damned bad nobody was able to hear this guy, with his honest self-assessment: Lock my ass up, I'm dangerous crazy.
Society FAIL. Justice system FAIL.
Looking at his big dead self, all I can think of is him standing in front of the judge begging to be locked up for 'dangerous crazy'. Too god-damned bad nobody was able to hear this guy, with his honest self-assessment: Lock my ass up, I'm dangerous crazy.
Society FAIL. Justice system FAIL.
25
@23: Wasn't he claiming that he was insane at the time of his crimes, not that he was insane at the time of the court hearing?
26
I'm overlookingy usual sensibility about the rights of the deceased in this case, but I'll say it's gonna be a goddamned shame if some member of his family successfully sues over this. For the city to have to pay after what this scum did is unthinkable, but not out of the question.
28
@ 24 - Belly wound looks nasty, but other than that he doesn't look shot nearly as much as I would have guessed.
29
@26 - Deceased people don't have rights because, well, they're not people anymore. Families of the deceased can sometimes control the deceased's image for commercial purposes if the deceased was a public figure, but I don't think this photo will cut into Clemmons' album sales or anything like that. Someone took a photo of his bloated deadness? Too bad, so sad.
30
@26-Like 29 said, there's really no protect against someone taking a picture of you (or your dead body) in a public place and then distributing the picture.
Lawsuits seem like a much bigger problem than they are. Most of the more outrageous lawsuits you hear about are at the filing stage. They get dismissed or withdrawn without costing more than a few hours of a lawyers time. Which sucks when they're directed at a little guy (happened to my family, long story), but for a city it's chump change.
Lawsuits seem like a much bigger problem than they are. Most of the more outrageous lawsuits you hear about are at the filing stage. They get dismissed or withdrawn without costing more than a few hours of a lawyers time. Which sucks when they're directed at a little guy (happened to my family, long story), but for a city it's chump change.
31
To the SPD... don't waste tax payers dollars searching for who posted the picture. I'm glad they did. When he chose to shoot four police officers or kill anyone for that matter he lost his rights as an american citizen. He was guilty... picked out of the line up from one of the employees at the coffee shop and he had one of the officers guns... I applaud the officer that shot him and saved alot of tax dollars putting this loser on trial and allowing him to appeal. He killed he got the sentence he deserved... death. If we pay the medical examiner their salarys - meaning tax payers - then the pictures should be public property. Screw his family.
33
Ha, that picture is sanitized and clean. I would have loved to see the picture of him before he was cleaned up. Is that a gunshot would on his neck? It also looks like another gunshot would in his right breast area. I think he should have been tortured first.
34
I think its his bad side. I'm curious as to where the final fatal shot was. Possibly the down side of his face? Anyway, more proof that guns don't kill people, Crazy mother fuckers like this kill people... I'm glad us taxpayers didn't have to pay for a long drawn out trial and incarceration for this guy. He got just as was called for.
35
Justice to a police killer. Let the community see the bastard in all his mighty glory
MURDERER ALSO need a public linching of Tim Britten's murderer.. Perhaps that reality will hit home with others thinking of doing the same
MURDERER ALSO need a public linching of Tim Britten's murderer.. Perhaps that reality will hit home with others thinking of doing the same
37
@29 and 30: Points well taken, but I know I'd have a fit if a relative of mine was "disgraced" in this way post mortem.
While we ALL wanted to know this demon was taken down, taking and distributing this image can't be regarded as remotely professional.
That said, I'm relieved he is off the streets and I'd love to know when we will start playing hardball with the likes of this creep.
Shame on Arkansas.
While we ALL wanted to know this demon was taken down, taking and distributing this image can't be regarded as remotely professional.
That said, I'm relieved he is off the streets and I'd love to know when we will start playing hardball with the likes of this creep.
Shame on Arkansas.
39
http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning
-nsfw-dead-cop-killer-from-washington
copy and paste into your browser - it gets cut out
-nsfw-dead-cop-killer-from-washington
copy and paste into your browser - it gets cut out
40
I'm just not buying the fact that that's him. There's not nearly enough blood for this to be the back of the ambulance. The floor doesn't look like any hospitals I've been in (and, AGAIN! not enough blood for the ER). If this was in the morgue, after he was cleaned up, then he wouldn't be on a gurney. And those neck wounds look like strangle marks to me. I just don't buy it; I'm not sold that's a legit photo, and I hope the city of Seattle can prove it isn't. Oh, and if I view the original image in a photo editor, all of the origination information is conveniently stripped. Coincidence?
42
The person in the medic unit on the left looks like they are holding a camera.
http://www.nationalpost.com/most-popular…
Could they be the one that took this photo?
http://bradleyjamesdesign.blogspot.com/2…
http://www.nationalpost.com/most-popular…
Could they be the one that took this photo?
http://bradleyjamesdesign.blogspot.com/2…
43
That's not the pic they are talking about. The picture is of him on a gurney, chest/torso completely exposed and a sheet over his genital. You can see the bullet hole in his stomach and other markings/wounds on his body.
44
That is not enough. I want a photo of his pitiful body lying in the street. I want to see his mother weeping. I want to see video of the motherf@*!ckers who helped him being gang raped by the biggest and nastiest guys in prison.
47
Some say it is in "Bad Taste" to see or want to see a photo of the Dead "COP KILLER" Clemmons... Why is it Bad Taste? Everyone should post it on thier facebook and myspace and cheer that he is gone for good. He was a ruthless basterd who deserved to die!! They show more on 48 hours, the crime investigations show. Are we suppose to think of the family and thier reaction to seeing him on a gurney with Bullet holes in him? HA..they already saw that in thier minds as they carted him around from one hiding place to another!! Screw his family! It is JUSTICE to put up his photo. More crazy's should be able to see what can happen to them if they act in a certain way. There should be public lynchings for Cop Killers and Child Molesters, and wow!!! He was both!! Put those pictures out there, send them to everyone you know, make a web site!! Show Justice at work!!
48
This whole F****** thing smells like hell and is very sick.Its like if four regular working people got shot ( that's what cops are regular working guys) there would be five seconds on the five o'clock news. why because they are four cops is it the crime of the century and every one who has some thing to sell is revving up lynch mob furor. I know I am not very politically correct, sorry for all of our loss,
49
That's not particularly bad. If you have seen photosets of drug war victims in Mexico, or the sites where soldiers trade Iraq war pictures - it is much worse. That is where you have decapitations, bodies being worn down into the dirt underneath car tracks, heads split open. You can barely tell he was shot here.
50
You people are stupid. The original gun shot wound is not the one directly in front of you. No bruising. Look at the right side of his chest (your left) and you'll see the old wound - he was shot just south of the lung, likely with a downward trajectory. The center wound was from the lone officer who shot him.
51
No they dont always have the coroner take them. Especially when the person may "have a chance". The lighting issue is mute b/c it is inside the ambulance and lights are on in there. I really don't see the big deal. He sure didn't care anything about Killing those cops but we are supposed to care if his rights are respected in death?? I dont quite think so.
52
The Strangers link to the photo was dead. I have a VGA (640*480) quality copy of the picture and put it on Wikipedia. Go get it before those nerds delete it.
53
dammm finally I found this photo at http://opieradio.posterous.com/warning-n…
so thank you who ever told the truth. I was listening to komo4 radio and they said o its all over the net ooo any kid can see well it took me 45 min you just cant google it ..... and its not bloody enough i think he shold of been shot up like swiss cheese
so thank you who ever told the truth. I was listening to komo4 radio and they said o its all over the net ooo any kid can see well it took me 45 min you just cant google it ..... and its not bloody enough i think he shold of been shot up like swiss cheese
55
Well, my give a damns' broken too.I agree that if they posted pictures like this regularly, violent criminals might think twice about how they get their jollies.In the nineteenth century they took pictures of the dead outlaws and put them in the newspapers. They also left the bodies on display until they smelled too bad to put up with. As far as I'm concerned,I don't care what his family thinks of this. They knew what he'd done and what he was about to do. He spelled it out for them. They could have saved his life by going to the police, But they did'ntcare enough for him to try to save him. I don't have the answers, but I know my pity is better spent elsewhere.
56
I watched the niece of Clemmons on TV this evening and wondered if she was one that would be arrested for aiding and abetting the child rapist/killer uncle. I also wondered if this woman knew what shame was, showing all her concern for the impact of that picture on her son-(I also wondered if she was so concerned with having the insane child rapist uncle around her kids) and she did not mention the dramatic impact of her uncle on so many other's lives. She also mentioned the intent of the police, and paraphrased (to her translation) the verbal intentions of one of the police officials to "punish her whole family for what he did". Oddly, I saw a different interview of someone visiting the shrine set up for the dead officers whom she did not even know. She was crying saying the attack was on the whole community, which she loved. IMHO Two very different hearts beating in the chests of these two women, and demonstrating some insight into the family of Clemmons, and the sad state of our society. As an aside (again) I saw this interview on Fox who seemed very sympathetic towards the niece. I suppose they will do a follow up story on the lawsuit if she can find an attorney to take the case. KK there is my 2 cents.
57
@19: I'm sure he died eventually...
"we always get our man"
*snark*
too soon?
@41: Arms? they're cuffed. Cuz, you know, how dead people are so Dangerous n' shit.
@44: why don't you forward her the link then, tough guy.
I think It's tragic this guy's dead body is surfin the net: people are so cold sometimes. (Pay no attention to that first line, above....ahem) . If you're mom's dead ass was on the net (er, again), you'd raise hell, I'm sure.
"we always get our man"
*snark*
too soon?
@41: Arms? they're cuffed. Cuz, you know, how dead people are so Dangerous n' shit.
@44: why don't you forward her the link then, tough guy.
I think It's tragic this guy's dead body is surfin the net: people are so cold sometimes. (Pay no attention to that first line, above....ahem) . If you're mom's dead ass was on the net (er, again), you'd raise hell, I'm sure.
58
"o the family of Clemmons, and the sad state of our society"
Not society, just that part of it that believes in no snitchin'
Not society, just that part of it that believes in no snitchin'
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