LONDON (AP) — A London police officer who fatally shot a Black motorist two years ago was acquitted Monday of murder in a case that intensified mistrust of Britain's largest police force among many in the city’s Black communities.
Metropolitan Police marksman Martyn Blake, 40, was cleared by a London jury in the death of Chris Kaba, who was unarmed but was driving a vehicle that had been involved in a shooting a day earlier.
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People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Friends and family members of Chris Kaba leave the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Kaba, 24, was shot in the head after the vehicle was boxed in by two police cars on a narrow residential street in the Streatham Hill neighborhood on Sept. 5, 2022.
Blake fired a single round through the windshield of the Audi because he thought fellow officers’ lives were in danger when Kaba began ramming the police cars in an attempt to break free.
A prosecutor said Blake misjudged the risk to his colleagues, exaggerated the threat in statements after the shooting and aimed for Kaba's head. Blake denied those assertions.
The shooting renewed racism allegations against the Met police, also known as Scotland Yard, as it had been trying to restore confidence following a series of scandals and an independent review that found it mired in sexism, homophobia and institutional racism.
The rare decision to prosecute Blake, who had been suspended, created a backlash from some of his specially trained firearms colleagues who refused to carry their weapons in a show of solidarity. The Met was briefly forced to call on neighboring departments and the military for backup.
Fatal shootings by police in the U.K. are rare. In the year to March 2023, officers in England and Wales who are authorized to carry a gun fired their weapons at people 10 times and killed three, according to official statistics.
Prosecutions of British officers for murder or manslaughter for actions performed on duty are exceptionally rare.
Jurors in London's Central Criminal Court deliberated for about three hours before finding Blake not guilty.
Blake let out a puff of relief as the verdict was read. Kaba’s family, seated in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction.
The family later said they were devastated and would continue to fight for justice.
“The not guilty verdict leaves us with the deep pain of injustice adding to the unbearable sorrow we have felt since Chris was killed,” the family said in a statement issued by the justice advocacy group Inquest. “Chris was stolen from us, and this decision shows his life — and many others like him — does not matter to the system. Our son deserved better.”
Prosecutors said their thoughts were with the Kaba family, but they respected the jury’s decision.
“We recognize that firearms officers operate under enormous pressure, but it is our responsibility to put cases before a jury that meet our test for prosecution, and we are satisfied that test was met in this case,” Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said Blake paid “a huge personal and professional sacrifice” for “a split-second decision on what he believed was necessary to protect his colleagues and to protect London."
Defense lawyer Patrick Gibbs said during his closing argument that Blake was not a “RoboCop with total vision and nanosecond reactions like a computer.”
“He is not a robot, he is a human being with a human brain who did this to the best of his ability,” Gibbs said.
Another firearms officer said he would have taken the shot if Blake had not and another said he was fractions of a second from pulling the trigger.
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Friends and family members of Chris Kaba leave the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
People demonstrate outside the Old Bailey in central London, Monday Oct. 21, 2024, after the London police officer who fatally shot Chris Kaba was acquitted of murder. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Jayson Tatum was already a proven winner before last season.
In Tatum’s first six seasons, no NBA player won more games with one team than he did. Tatum played in 334 wins with the Boston Celtics over that span, including playoffs. He was a five-time All-Star, a legitimate MVP candidate, a four-time All-NBA pick, even an Olympic gold medalist.
He just wasn’t a champion.
“I had to listen to all the (stuff) that people said about me,” Tatum said.
That’s all in the past now. The Celtics are champions, coach Joe Mazzulla leading them to that crown, and when the season starts on Tuesday night in Boston — where last season ended — Tatum doesn’t seem to be considering it the start of a title defense. He’s looking at it as the start of a chase for a 19th title, and according to BetMGM Sportsbook, the Celtics are the favorite to claim the 2025 championship.
“It was never just about trying to just win one,” said Tatum, who added a second Olympic gold to his collection this summer. “Now you get to be mentioned with — at least be in the same room with — the other Celtics great teams, great players. All the guys that I looked up to growing up at least won one championship. Now it’s just a conversation of: ‘How great are you trying to be? What room or what tier are you trying to be mentioned in when it’s all said and done?’”
That journey starts with ring night in Boston, where the Celtics take on New York in the first game of a doubleheader to formally open the league's 79th season. The nightcap is Minnesota at the Los Angeles Lakers, a game that will see LeBron James tie Vince Carter by playing in a 22nd NBA season — and potentially the first official game where a father and son are teammates, with Bronny James entering his rookie season.
There will be challengers to a Boston repeat, and a lot of them. New York (adding Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns) and Philadelphia (adding Paul George) loaded up to try to supplant Boston atop the Eastern Conference. And there are rising teams in the East as well, like the Paolo Banchero-led Orlando Magic and Donovan Mitchell-led Cleveland Cavaliers — who made Round 2 of the playoffs last season.
“We've just got to keep our foot on the gas,” Mitchell said. “We've got to keep going.”
And the Western Conference also has several contenders.
BetMGM has Oklahoma City — the No. 1 seed in the West last season, led by MVP hopeful Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — as the narrow favorite to win that side of the league, with 2023 NBA champion Denver, reigning West champion Dallas and a Minnesota team that went to the West finals a season ago all in the mix.
“You have to be careful with expectations put on outcomes,” Thunder forward Chet Holmgren said. “Around here we really emphasize putting expectations on processes, how we show up every day, how we go about our work, what we do, and the attention of detail that we do it to. That’s what we’re really focused on.”
Golden State's Stephen Curry helped the U.S. win Olympic gold this summer; the Warriors can never be counted out. And with James, neither can the Lakers.
“We’re the hunters, amongst many other teams,” Curry said. “What can this team do to maximize every skill set that we have in that locker room? That’s the challenge for us.”
The West is just loaded. But these Celtics — who return virtually intact from a year ago — know what it takes to be the last team standing.
“Boston can say whatever they want to say. They’ve earned it. They beat all of us and they were crowned,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So, they can feel however they want to feel going into this season. With that said, (they) still have to earn it. But it’s a new season, new year. There’ll be a bunch of teams that are gunning for that title.”
JJ Redick was coaching the fourth-grade team at Brooklyn Basketball Academy earlier this year. He's now coaching the Los Angeles Lakers.
Redick is one of three coaches about to make their NBA debuts, joining Charlotte's Charles Lee and Brooklyn's Jordi Fernandez.
Other coaches who have new jobs entering this season are Mike Budenholzer in Phoenix (a franchise he led Milwaukee past for the 2021 NBA title), along with Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland and JB Bickerstaff in Detroit. Bickerstaff coached the Cavaliers last season and the schedule-makers just happened to have the Pistons as the opponent for Cleveland's home opener on Friday.
Technically, Brian Keefe is a new coach as well. He finished last season as Washington's interim coach for the final 39 games, and had the interim tag removed over the offseason.
Half of the league's coaches — 15 of the 30 — enter this season having completed two years or less with their current clubs.
Some notable events this season:
—Nov. 2: Miami plays Washington in Mexico City.
—Nov. 4: All 30 teams will be in action, with all start times staggered 15 minutes apart.
—Nov. 5: For the third straight year, no games will be played on Election Day.
—Nov. 12-Dec. 17: The NBA Cup is back for a second season, with the semifinals on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas and the title game there three days later. The Lakers are the defending champions.
—Dec. 25: The Christmas games are San Antonio at New York, Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, Lakers at Golden State and Denver at Phoenix.
—Jan. 20: The league celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Among the highlight games are Minnesota at Memphis and Boston at Golden State.
—Jan. 23 and 25: Reigning rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama returns to Paris, with San Antonio taking on Indiana in two games there.
—Feb. 6: The trade deadline.
—Feb. 16: The NBA All-Star Game takes place in San Francisco.
—April 11 and 13: The last two game days of the regular season, with all 30 teams in action both days.
—April 15-18: Play-in tournament, followed by the playoff openers on April 19.
—June 5: The 2025 NBA Finals begin.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates a basket behind Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick reacts during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, March 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)
