Arab man charged with manslaughter after cousin killed by cops

An Arab man was charged on Thursday with contributing to the shooting death earlier this month of his cousin at the hands of Border Police because of alleged reckless driving.

Ali Nimir, 25, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, was indicted for manslaughter at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

He was also charged with driving under the influence, driving without a valid driver’s license, driving without insurance and possession of a controlled substance.

Police initially claimed Nimir and his cousin, Mustafa Nimir, were planning a car-ramming attack. They later retracted the allegation but did accuse Nimir of driving recklessly, arousing officer’s suspicions and causing them to shoot.

Ramat Gan resident Mustafa Nimir, who was in the passenger seat, was killed on the spot; Ali Nimir, the driver, was moderately wounded. No Israeli troops were hurt in the incident.

Last week, the court rejected the police claim that the death was entirely Nimir’s fault but ordered him to remain in custody as the investigation continued.

Judge Gabai Richter said that there was “a significant gap” in evidence supporting the police claim that Nimir was responsible for the death. Richter said he approved the remand request by police because of the driving-under-the influence charge and previous traffic violations by Nimir.

In the indictment Thursday, the prosecution said that on the night of September 4, Nimir and his cousin were riding in a vehicle operated by Nimir and approached a temporary roadblock set up by police who were conducting an operation in the Shuafat refugee camp.

A commercial vehicle stopped by police began reversing according to police instructions, the indictment read, when suddenly Nimir swerved aggressively, overtaking the vehicle and then allegedly floored the gas in the direction of officers.

When repeated calls to stop — “in Hebrew and in Arabic” — were ignored, police fired two sponge-tipped bullets at the vehicle, one of which hit the windshield, according to the indictment. As the vehicle kept speeding up, eventually breaching the roadblock, officers fired live bullets, fearing imminent danger to their lives.

The prosecution said Nimir’s “reckless driving” was demonstrated by his alleged “refusal to heed several police calls to stop, thus endangering officers’ lives as well as his own and his cousin’s.” That, combined with his “impaired state as a result of drugs and alcohol” contributed to the death and the subsequent manslaughter charge.

Earlier this month, a video from the scene, broadcast by Channel 10, cast doubt on police’s initial claims that the two were terrorists who attempted to run over police. In the footage, the officers could be seen shooting at the vehicle after it had already stopped.

Mustafa Nimir had been visiting his family in the refugee camp and had driven out with his cousin to pick up pizza. His fiancee, brother and a friend rode in a car behind them, the fiancee told Channel 10 news.

According to the fiancee, some of the officers’ gunfire also struck their vehicle. She also said police only stopped shooting when she identified herself as Jewish.

The Justice Ministry opened an investigation into the incident, seeking to determine if the police’s use of deadly force was warranted.