Cariol Horne, who was forced out of the Buffalo Police Department for trying to stop excessive force, wants President Joe Biden to do more to stop violence against Black people.
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By Victor Omondi
It’s all joy for Cariol Horne. The mother of 5 and a former police officer received news that she will finally get justice, 15 years in waiting.
Horne got fired in 2006 for stopping her White colleague from carrying out a chokehold on a handcuffed Black man. The ex-Buffalo police officer, however, paid dearly for efforts to do what was right.
On that fateful day, she responded to a call from a woman reporting that her ex-boyfriend, David Neal Mack, had stolen her security check worth $626. When she arrived at the scene, fellow police officer, Gregory Kwiatkowski, had already arrested and handcuffed Mack. Horne says that the incident took an ugly turn when Kwiatkowski started punching and choking the handcuffed man. She also recounts that at one instant, she heard Mack say he couldn’t breathe.
Judge Rules In Favor of Black Officer Who Fought for 15 Years to Receive Pension After Being Fired for Stopping White Colleague from Choking Black Man
An ex-Buffalo police officer who was terminated nearly 15 years ago after intervening while her colleague carried out a chokehold on a handcuffed Black man will receive a full pension, a New York judge ruled on Wednesday, April 14.
Cariol Horne was fired, faced departmental charges and was left without a pension after she forcibly removed her white colleague from a handcuffed Black man he’d placed in a chokehold in 2006.
“To her credit, Officer Horne did not merely stand by, but instead sought to intervene, despite the penalty she ultimately paid for doing so. … She saved a life that day, and history will now record her for the hero she is,” New York Supreme Court Judge Dennis Ward wrote in the ruling.
USA TODAY
As a conversation about excessive force by police sweeps the nation, one former police officer has been vindicated 15 years after she was terminated for forcibly removing a white officer who placed a handcuffed Black man in a chokehold.
Cariol Horne, a former Buffalo police officer, was fired, faced departmental charges and left without a pension after the 2006 incident, according to the New York Times.
On Tuesday, the New York Supreme Court vacated an earlier ruling from 2010 that affirmed her firing. Horne is now entitled to back wages, benefits and enough credit to receive her pension. To her credit, Officer Horne did not merely standby, but instead sought to intervene, despite the penalty she ultimately paid for doing so, Justice Dennis Ward wrote in the state court s decision. While the Eric Garners and George Floyds of the world never had a cha