Michael Dietrick, the former Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed burglary suspect David Pelaez-Chavez in 2022, will receive $5,226 per month as part of lifetime retirement benefits approved earlier this year through the county's pension system, The Press Democrat has learned. The fatal shooting sparked recurring protests and calls by Pelaez-Chavez's family members and activists for greater accountability, and, years later, is now at the center of a heated debate over the authority and reach of Sonoma County's civilian law enforcement oversight office.
Yet federal agents are responding with increased force. Federal police unleashed a volley of weapons and chemical agents on anti-ICE protesters and journalists on Saturday, October 11. It was a notable escalation in the response to protests at the Portland immigration processing facility that led to violent arrests, a photojournalist getting shot with a pepper ball, and a large group being sprayed indiscriminately with tear gas.
In the video, the officer's car had a minor collision with a car driven by Wilks. As soon as both cars came to a stop so the drivers could assess the damage, Wilks got out and immediately walked toward the driver's side of the officer's car. Wilks was seen yelling at the officer. When the officer got out of his car, he walked in front of it to look at the spot where the collision had occurred. As he walked, Wilks trailed behind him and continued berating him. Then, Wilks suddenly brandished a handgun and hit the officer in the head with it. The officer pulled out his own firearm and shot Wilks multiple times.
The attorney for a woman who was shot by federal agents in Chicago over the weekend after she allegedly rammed a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vehicle has claimed that body-camera footage captures one of the officers saying, Do something, bitch, before opening fire, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The shooting occurred on Saturday morning in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood, as immigration agents, at the behest of the second Trump administration, have been scouring Illinois's largest city for people to deport.
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The return of the controversial paid bonus, eliminated years ago due to civil society pressure, comes at a time when Rio has its lowest police lethality rates in a decade. The paid bonus was introduced in a bill reforming the career path of civil police officers, who focus mainly on investigations rather than street patrols. Under the law, officers could receive a bonus of 10% to 150% of their salary for seizing high-caliber or restricted-use weapons and neutralizing criminals, according to O Globo.
