TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A new filing by the Florida Benevolent Police Association on behalf of the officer who shot and killed Tony McDade asserts that the city did not provide legal justification for its interpretation on Marcy's Law.
The injunction, which was filed on Friday, argues that the City of Tallahassee changed its position on Marsy's Law due to "public pressure in response to the tragic death of George Floyd," and failed to lay out true legal justification for their new interpretation of Marsy's Law.
Like the previous motion, this one also seeks to prohibit the city from releasing any personal information about the officers involved in the shooting under Marsy's Law.
"The Florida Supreme Court has previously acknowledged that despite their professional status, police officers are persons who can be the victim of a crime and deserve the full protection that Florida law affords to crime victims," the injunction reads.
Attorneys also contended that officers were not aware that McDade was the stabbing victim they were looking for on May 27,
When an officer, identified in documents only as "Doe 2," drove up to where the stabbing suspect had allegedly fled, he saw an "unidentified person" (later identified as McDade) leaning into the passenger window of a parked car.
As a second patrol vehicle approached, McDade's mother frantically ran toward it, claiming someone was "suicidal."
Documents say McDade moved toward the second officer, but stopped and moved back to the first officer after McDade's mother "entered his would-be line of fire with the second patrol officer."
That's when the injunction alleges McDade "punched his arms out in a shooting stance," toward Doe 2 as he was still sitting in his patrol vehicle.
Caught off guard, attorneys say the officer "immediately recognized that the unidentified person was pointing a firearm at him," so he partially came out of his vehicle and shot McDade.
After retrieving the gun from McDade, who was continuing to reach for it, backup arrived and began rendering aid as bystanders "immediately began to threaten the officers."
The new petition for declaratory judgment, mandamus relief, and injunctive relief asks that the court require the city to show why the requested relief should not be granted and enter a preliminary order keeping the city from releasing any personal information about the two officers involved.
