By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
December 21, 2016
Milwaukee, WI - On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has admitted that one of the ATF agents driving and unmarked van had struck Bruce J. Young, 40, as he fled on foot and was crossing W. Greenfield Ave. at the 3400 block and not as previously reported that a Milwaukee police unmarked van had struck Young. According to a civilian dash cam video recording of the incident released to Fox 6 News Milwaukee, Young is seen running northbound on S. 34th Street from authorities and trying to cross W. Greenfield Ave. as a driver going westbound on W. Greenfield Ave. was recording on a dash cam caught the whole incident by chance. The video shows Young crossing W. Greenfield when a fed van followed him and then just struck him from behind. On impact, Young fell and died. Not one officer or ATF agent attempted to render aid to Young while on the ground. The body froze at the scene.
One source says, an officer told her that they couldn't get close to Young's body because the ATF believed he was wearing an explosive device, if true. It would have been a bad decision for a fed van to strike him and ignite the explosives.
According to information released by the State's DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DOJDCI), the ATF requested the investigation due to an officer-involved death and claimed that Young died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound, but it isn't clear yet how Young actually died. Young was seen holding a handgun to his head as he eluded arrest by the ATF, but then was struck by an unmarked ATF van as he was crossing W. Greenfield Ave.
At least 15 to 17 law enforcement officers including ATF agent's, police and deputies participated in an attempt to serve a warrant for illegal possession of explosives, when the incident went wrong and ended with Young's death.
According to information released by the State's DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DOJDCI), the ATF requested the investigation due to an officer-involved death and claimed that Young died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound, but it isn't clear yet how Young actually died. Young was seen holding a handgun to his head as he eluded arrest by the ATF, but then was struck by an unmarked ATF van as he was crossing W. Greenfield Ave.
At least 15 to 17 law enforcement officers including ATF agent's, police and deputies participated in an attempt to serve a warrant for illegal possession of explosives, when the incident went wrong and ended with Young's death.
According to Nenita Borjas who took interest in the incident when local media reported that Young had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, she began to question the headlines and is now seeking justice for Young. At the time, Borjas didn't know that Young was White, but that a man was intentionally struck by an unmarked law enforcement van and the media went along with what the ATF had claimed, that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound with no other explanation. The media report might have led the public to believe that it was an actual suicide, but when a video later surfaced to showed Young was actually struck by the ATF van while he was still alive, the ATF's claim doesn't match the officer-involved death report in this case. Borjas posted on her Facebook account that with the help of some members of the Southside community neighborhood and others who requested to stay anonymous were able to reach Young's family. The ATF who was the leading agency in the incident still claims that Young had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An attorney has been acquired by the Young family to look into Young's death and seek an inquiry from law enforcement agencies involved in his death. Young's family attorney, John Birdsall told Fox 6 that he doesn't believe Young shot himself and has requested for the ATF to release any proof when Young shot himself, before or after he was struck by the ATF van. The ATF struck Young from behind as he fled on foot, according to a dash cam video.
Birdsall confirmed that Young's body had a gunshot wound and the family will perform an independent autopsy as well. Fox 6 reported that the ATF found fireworks, black powder and empty grenades at a rented storage space in Germantown, but the ATF hasn't indicated if it was legal or illegal to own, according attorney Birdsall.
Questions regarding how Young died on December 15 has generated interest in Milwaukee area including members from the Afro-American community and members of the Latino community who are networking with the goal to bring Justice for Young who happens to be White with felony convictions. It seems the ATF's claim that Young died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound is not very convincing to many, since a video showed an ATF van strike him while he was still alive.
The ATF at the moment has not released any video or evidence to prove that Young actually shot himself.
Hash tags #Justice4Bruce and #Justice4BruceYoung have been created.
Video of ATF van striking Bruce J. Young from behind at link: https://youtu.be/1bcfpuewrGE
Update: According to Johnny Koremenos, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, he released the following statement regarding the death of Young, that Young didn't die as a result of being struck by an ATF van, but that,
"-The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound and not being struck by the vehicle.
- According to 2013 Wisconsin Act 348, “Officer-involved death" means a death of an individual that results directly from an action or an omission of a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is on duty or while the law enforcement officer is off duty but performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.” This incident is not being investigated as an OID because a law enforcement officer struck Mr. Young. As I mentioned above, Mr. Young did not die because he was struck by a vehicle. While the victim did not die because a law enforcement officer discharged his/her weapon or because of the use of his/her vehicle, the chain of events that occurred on Thursday after law enforcement attempted to take this individual into custody caused the OID law to apply. In a similar instance about a year ago in Jefferson County, a law enforcement pursuit resulted in a car crash that killed two juveniles. The OID applied in that case too.
-ATF is part of a local jurisdictional task force. Regardless of the law enforcement agency/agencies involved in the OID, the incident took place within the State of Wisconsin, so the State law governing OID investigations applies. ATF requested DOJ lead this investigation.
No other information is available at this time."
Koremenos wouldn't confirm whether Young was alive or deceased when he was struck from behind by the unmarked ATF van and if any law enforcement dash cam and body camera video was recovered to show how Young actually died.
The civilian dash cam video certainly contradicts the information released by the DOJ that says, Young died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and not from being struck by the ATF van.
Update: According to Johnny Koremenos, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, he released the following statement regarding the death of Young, that Young didn't die as a result of being struck by an ATF van, but that,
"-The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound and not being struck by the vehicle.
- According to 2013 Wisconsin Act 348, “Officer-involved death" means a death of an individual that results directly from an action or an omission of a law enforcement officer while the law enforcement officer is on duty or while the law enforcement officer is off duty but performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.” This incident is not being investigated as an OID because a law enforcement officer struck Mr. Young. As I mentioned above, Mr. Young did not die because he was struck by a vehicle. While the victim did not die because a law enforcement officer discharged his/her weapon or because of the use of his/her vehicle, the chain of events that occurred on Thursday after law enforcement attempted to take this individual into custody caused the OID law to apply. In a similar instance about a year ago in Jefferson County, a law enforcement pursuit resulted in a car crash that killed two juveniles. The OID applied in that case too.
-ATF is part of a local jurisdictional task force. Regardless of the law enforcement agency/agencies involved in the OID, the incident took place within the State of Wisconsin, so the State law governing OID investigations applies. ATF requested DOJ lead this investigation.
No other information is available at this time."
Koremenos wouldn't confirm whether Young was alive or deceased when he was struck from behind by the unmarked ATF van and if any law enforcement dash cam and body camera video was recovered to show how Young actually died.
The civilian dash cam video certainly contradicts the information released by the DOJ that says, Young died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and not from being struck by the ATF van.
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