Police killing of Black Military veteran highlights racial inequities, civil rights leaders say

Civil rights activists in New Jersey say the police response to two 911 calls this year in a rural, white-majority town, one of which resulted in officials fatally shooting a Black Army veteran in front of his home, highlighting inequalities in police conduct highlights with whites and coloreds.

They say they believe race played a role in how officers worked with the retired major, especially when compared to how they treated an 80-year-old white man who told a police officer in January that he was suicidal, before he did a quick manhunt, the town ended with his being safely caught and arrested in a hospital.

Army veteran Gulia Dale was killed on July 4 after his wife Karen called 911 to report that her husband had left their home with a gun. The New Jersey attorney general investigating Dale’s death said a Glock 21, a .45 caliber firearm, was found near Dale.

On the emergency call his wife could be heard: “The cops are on their way. For you. Because you are acting crazy.”

“Please get the cops over here,” she said in the call.

The attorney general released a blackened video of the incident and a recording of the 911 call.

Videos show 61-year-old Dale was trying to drive away in a four-door pickup when police arrived at his home around 9:30 p.m. and activated their body-worn cameras. Police cars blocked Dale on both sides.

The officers asked him to get out of the vehicle and he obeyed, according to body camera videos and a statement from the attorney general earlier this month.

Dale then opened the rear driver’s door and leaned in briefly before closing the door, video appears to be showing. Then he sat in the driver’s seat when the officers shouted several times: “Get out of the truck.” According to one of the videos, Dale got out of the vehicle again, this time with “an object in hand,” the Attorney General said.

Officers Steven Kneidl and Garrett Armstrong shot Dale, crashed into his car and fatally injured him, the Attorney General said. A third officer did not fire a weapon and was therefore not publicly identified.

Dale’s sister Valerie Cobbertt said her brother had post-traumatic stress disorder and was triggered by July 4th fireworks. She said Dale, her only brother, had served honorably for 30 years, including on Operation Desert Storm, and serving in the Department of Defense and Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, New Jersey.

She filed a home affairs complaint with the Newton Police Department on August 5. She said she would like to see an unedited video of the encounter and learn the identity of the third officer who was on the scene and the 911 operator.

In the earlier incident, police said they received a call at 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 25 from an elderly man who was later identified as Edwin Greene. The caller said he was suicidal, had a gun and was in a parking garage, but did not want to provide any further information before hanging up, police said.

When authorities arrived, police said Greene was sitting in a chair in the garage next to his vehicle, holding a small-caliber pistol to his head. The officers cordoned off the area and tried to speak to Greene, police said. While they are supposed to “establish contact” with him, he is said to have fired a .22 caliber pistol at the officers twice.

None of the officers was hit, but one suffered a minor leg injury. Greene then got into his vehicle and fled, “although several officers tried to block its exit and gain access to the vehicle as it drove away,” police said.

According to police, he was still armed when he was later found outside a hospital.

“Officials were getting closer to the issue and he was physically brought to the ground, restrained and taken into custody,” police said. The firearm was confiscated.

Greene, now 81, has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes. He pleaded not guilty in February, according to the New Jersey Herald. He is being held in Morris County Jail.

Newton Police Department said at the time that “officials have shown exceptional restraint and no officer has released their firearm” during the encounter.

Rick Robinson, chairman of the Newark Civilian Complaint Review Board, said he believed race played a role in the police response in Dale’s case.

Greene “had the privilege of being arrested after attacking the police,” said Robinson, also chair of the Newark NAACP Criminal Justice Committee.

Chief Steven VanNieuwland said on Wednesday that he was unable to comment on any of the incidents due to the ongoing investigation. He referred NBC News to the city attorney, who said it was the city’s position not to comment on the ongoing criminal investigation. The employment status of the two police officers who shot Dale is unclear. The Newton Police Department previously declined to answer questions and referred all inquiries to the Attorney General.

Steven Young, the president of South Jersey’s National Action Network, said he believed the police had taken no action to de-escalate the situation with Dale.

“The police are officers. And we forget that, ”said Young. “You offer our community a service and security. We have to understand that. You have to understand this. You have to be trained in de-escalation.”

Cobbertt said her brother was a humble, soft-spoken person who celebrated diversity and loved his country.

“The woman called for psychological help,” she said. “Why is your first reaction to coming out with your gun? If you don’t do that to whites.”