The Reform Movement of Terre Haute is fundraising for Jeremy and Emily Ross and their children, so that Emily can retain a civil rights lawyer for Jeremy as he moves forward with an appeal of his April 15 criminal conviction and a separate civil lawsuit against the Terre Haute Police Department. The immediate need is for a $3000 retainer fee. If you can help Jeremy seek justice after being brutally shot, tased, and beaten by THPD and then blamed and criminalized after, please make a donation. Emily is raising multiple children on her own now and recently lost her vehicle to an engine fire, so meeting this fee on her own would be a hardship. Every donation helps get us closer to our goal. We stand together and with each other as a community that wants justice for those most impacted by excessive force by police. If you are unfamiliar with Jeremy Ross's case, please read a full description below.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SOLIDARITY!

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We have nothing to lose but our chains!

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On March 6, 2020, Jeremy Ross was shot multiple times by two THPD officers during a traffic stop that involved four officers. Ross suffered multiple bullet wounds in his chest, hip, and arm, a collapsed lung, and underwent multiple surgeries. The officers, after nearly killing Ross by gunfire, undid his seatbelt (he was still seatbelted in during the shooting), removed him from the car, and proceeded to tase, kick, and punch him on the ground, and one held a gun to his head threatening to kill him. At the trial they claimed that they had to do this because Ross was “resisting” and “fighting,” but upon further questioning they clarified that "resisting" meant Ross was laying on his arms after being shot and tased, making it hard for them to put him in handcuffs. In order to justify the brutal shooting, the police alleged self defense and said they shot Ross because he pointed his own gun at officers and tried to pull the trigger.

At Jeremy's trial in mid April, an all-white jury bought this lie and convicted Ross of attempted murder despite a trial that produced no evidence that Ross ever held, pointed, or attempted to fire a gun during this incident.

Of the four officers at the scene, three said they never saw a gun. Officers Daniel Johnson and Adam Loudermilk said they shot Ross only because Officer Justin Gant yelled "gun" and because Gant sounded scared and tired during a short physical struggle with Ross.

The struggle began after Ross tried to unbuckle his seatbelt to comply with the officers' demands that he exit the car. That's when Gant reached his arms through the passenger window to grab Ross's wrist, and felt a small gun in Ross's jacket pocket. (Ross admits he had the gun in his jacket pocket). Gant freaked out and yelled “Gun gun he has a gun," and then engaged in a physical struggle with Ross (10-30 seconds according to testimony), during which Gant moved away long enough for his colleagues to pump bullets into Ross while Ross was still seatbelted into the car.

What happened during that struggle? Gant described later a tight-gripped struggle over the gun during which Ross tried to fire it at two officers. Yet, the other three officers were staring into the car from multiple angles and all testified that they never saw a gun being held by Ross or Gant. The officers said they shot Ross only on the basis of Gant sounding scared and tired. Ross said Gant was pulling on his jacket with the gun inside. In the trial, experts confirmed that the gun's safety was on the entire time, and the prosecution produced no DNA or fingerprint testing from the gun to verify the kind of tight-gripped struggle that Gant described.

To justify the shooting that his actions had caused, Gant came up with a good story to tell the Indiana State Police detectives who investigated the incident. He referred back to his recent THPD training where he'd learned a technique that works on some guns whereby you can prevent a shooting by jamming a finger between the trigger and trigger guard. He described in detail to the detective how he did this with his pinky finger and how he held it there throughout the struggle with Ross, such that he could feel Ross applying pressure to the trigger. That's how he said he knew that Ross was attempting murder.

The only problem is - this story is impossible with the make and model of that gun, a .25 caliber Phoenix Arms Raven. Gant admitted that he figured out the discrepancy a few days after the shooting when he found a picture of the gun online. The deputy prosecutor (Rob Roberts) said that he also learned that Gant's story was impossible soon after the shooting. And the Indiana State Police detectives surely realized this discrepancy in their investigation. Yet, no one said anything for a year.

They all knew very early on that the central claim of this case -- the claim upon which Ross was charged with attempted murder -- was flat out impossible. Yet, Gant did not formally acknowledge the discrepancy until his pre-trial deposition last month, and no one in the THPD, ISP, or Prosecutor's office did anything to acknowledge the discrepancy until pre-trial depositions, all while they continued to pursue attempted murder charges against Ross based on Gant's fabricated story. Rob Roberts even made light of this during the trial, telling Officer Gant on the witness stand that he must have forgotten to send him the email saying they needed to talk about problems with Gant's story. In July, Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt cleared the officers of wrongdoing following an "independent investigation" by the Indiana State Police. Meanwhile, they were all sitting on the knowledge that the central claim of the case was fabricated.

In mid April, Ross was tried and convicted of attempted murder by an all white jury after just 3 hours of deliberation. He faces up to 67 years in prison. His sentencing is set for June 25.