People at the funeral of a man who was shot and killed by a Largo police officer last month said they were shocked by what Largo detectives did at the funeral home. While it is legal, the fiance of Linus F. Phillips and others at the funeral home felt it was inappropriate for the officers to try to unlock Phillips phone with his dead hand.
<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/d169723167fee829c39b03513257b9dcba1eb6e308ac480f678e329937d13baf.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">
<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Largo Police</span>
"I just felt so disrespected and violated," Victoria Armstrong said, Phillips fiance. Armstrong was at the Sylvan Abbey Funeral Home in Clearwater when two detectives showed up with Phillip's phone. Funeral home staff took the detectives to Phillip's corpse and they tried to unlock the phone by holding the body's hand up to the fingerprint sensor.
Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/22266-California-Wants-To-Limit-When-Police-Officers-Can-Shoot">California Wants To Limit When Police Officers Can Shoot</a>
Lt. Randall Chaney of the Largo police said the attempt to access and preserve data on Phillip's phone was unsuccessful but would have aided in the investigation into Phillip's death. There is also a separate inquiry into drugs that Phillip was a part. Chaney said detectives didn't think they'd need a warrant because there is no expectation of privacy after death. While legal experts affirmed the statement, it still didn't feel right to Phillip's family.
Charles Rose, professor, and director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University College of Law said, "While the deceased person doesn’t have a vested interest in the remains of their body, the family sure does, so it really doesn’t pass the smell test. There’s a ghoulish component to it that’s troubling to most people."
Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/23170-Watch-Bodycam-Footage-Of-YouTube-Shooter-Hours-Before-Rampage">Watch: Bodycam Footage Of YouTube Shooter Hours Before Rampage</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is surveillance video taken at a Wawa in Largo on March 23. Linus Phillips Jr was shot and killed by an officer with Largo Police and his family has been pushing for this video to be released ever since. The State Attorney's office says the shooting was justified <a href="https://twitter.com/BN9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BN9</a> <a href="https://t.co/xBdzfa3wKf">pic.twitter.com/xBdzfa3wKf</a></p>— Angie Angers (@angie_angers) <a href="https://twitter.com/angie_angers/status/986669397908566033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Phillip was fatally shot at a Wawa gas station after he tried to drive away from an officer during a traffic stop. Police were able to get Phillip's phone within the critical 48-72 hour period to access the phone using the fingerprint sensor but the body had already been released from state custody. The shooting was ruled justified by the State Attorney's Office last week.
<i>On Twitter:</i>
<a href="https://twitter.com/MAGASyndicate">@MAGASyndicate</a>
Tips? Info? Send me a message!
Twitter: #Shooting #FingerPrint #Sensor #Wawa #LargoPolice #LinusPhillips
Just like a nigger to feel 'violated' when the detectives were making a sincere effort to try and find out who killed her fiance. It was a good idea, and a noble attempt… Makes me think she was complicit somehow… Stupid fucking nigger.
wow!!