#fatally shot an unarmed black man

[auraisereigh]

"Promise me, Little star"

Chapter One

Brennan Sorrengail x Riorson reader Blurb: When the battle of Aretia ends Star is left to pick up all the pieces her loved ones left behind. wc: 5.6k ☆ SPOILERS FOR THE EMPYREAN SERIES. Violence, Fatal injury, Death, Grief and loss, War. Let me know if i missed something. Uses pronouns: she/her. i use Star as a nickname as y/n sounds weird, and i'm awful with names.

Star's masterlist main masterlist

We are losing. No doubt. The amount of dragons they have on us is too high. We only have the riders who decided to side with my father. And most of us are infantry.

And it's all too clear when you're standing on the top floor of Riorson house.

I might have shot some riders out of the sky but that doesn't kill their dragons. The cross bolt does that, but they're reloading too slowly for the amount of dragons in the sky.

I keep looking out for a certain Black dragon. Hoping he stays alive. He is not a price I'm willing to pay for war.

I draw another arrow and aim at a passing dragon, a brown. I loosen the arrow. It shoots through the dragons wing, not its rider.

I stand there aiming and loosening arrows for the longest time, there seems no end in this battle. The only thing that would show that is the amount of men we are losing.

I'm running low on arrows when I see an Orange dragon go down, behind Riorson house in the mountains. I don't think much of it when I see a Black dragon follow. Naolin.

I look over to my dad on the battlefield, making sure he can hold his own, when I'm sure I turn and run down the five floors this fortress has. I make my way to the back door that leads to the mountains I saw Naolin and his dragon fly to. I don't have to make it too far in. I can hear the two dragons.

I make my way around the mountain quietly, not wanting to startle the dragons. Naolin's dragon, Tairn, knows I'm not on their side but he also knows I wouldn't harm him.

I drop my bow when I see Naolin crouched next to the body of a man, a rider. Blood pooling from his body, an arrow in his chest. He's dying.

I make my way over to them, unarmed, except for the magic I was born with. When I reach Naolin he is not crying, there are tears streaming down his cheeks but he is not crying out loud.

No, he's channeling his power. But he's a siphon, what could he possibly do for a dying man.

"Naolin?" My voice is soft but there's a hint of uncertainty. He is the only person who knows me completely. The one I'm not scared of to show vulnerability or weaknesses.

He doesn't respond but his dragon takes a step back and lets out a noise of disagreement. They must be talking to each other.

"Naolin?" I try again, my voice is much quieter this time.

"Star?" His voice is strained. He looks drained. More than he was when I just arrived.

I crouch next to him placing my hand in the crook of his elbow "it's me." I know that if he was in the right state of mind he would scold me for being here. In the open, where anyone can attack anytime. "What are you doing?" My voice panics a little feeling how hot he's becoming, how pale his skin is, how he looks like he's trying not to scream.

"Promise me something," he starts, his voice strained and rough.

I hold onto him, my magic pouring into him in the hopes to warm his cold body. "Promise me you'll live a full life." He's saying goodbye. No, he can't. I don't know a lot about siphoning but it's impossible to resurrect someone. And that man looks dead. "Naolin?" I try to pull his hands off the body but it feels like they're glued on. "No, please..." My voice has never been so vulnerable. Never sounded so broken.

"Promise me." He says again. "Promise me, little star." I can tell he's on his last life line and my heart slowly shagged. It doesn't matter how hard I try to keep him alive through my magic, I can just feel him slip away.

"Naolin..." My voice breaks completely. Tears slowly start falling down my cheeks. Theres no point in stopping him, there never was. This is who Naolin is. He'd sacrifice himself for anyone he loves. It's what is both beautiful and sad about him. He doesn't think his life is worth more. He never has. But he means more to me. He always has. He's been my rock, my comfort, even when he was days trip away at Basgiath.

I can feel the life drain out of him, his light. I can hear his heart slow and see the color drain from his face and body.

And then he falls down but I keep holding him. I don't want to let go. Not of him. Not of his soul.

I lay down next to him, his body has never been so cold. He can't be gone, no one can resurrect anyone. That other man isn't breathing either. Why would Naolin give his life for him?

Naolin's dragon, Tairn lets out a mourning roar as he lays around naolin and me, the orange doing the same with the other rider.

☆

I don't know how long i stayed there. All I know is that by night time Tairn leaves. Giving one last sniff at Naolin before flying off. Naolin once mentioned Tairn had a mate, he must be going there. Must be nice. To have someone who will comfort you, hold you in a time of darkness. Naolin was that for me.

The battle ended. Seeing as no one is looking for me I'm pretty confident we lost.

Did I lose everything? The question haunts me as I stay curled up by Naolin, looking for warmth but finding none.

The crying stopped a while ago. My heart feels hollow, empty. My head hurts with a pounding headache. My hands a red from blood. My finger bruised from pulling my bow string too much. My eyes burn from the tears. And my heart... Shattered.

In the morning I wake up, my face burning from the sun, my mouth dehydrated. I slowly sit up, hoping it's all a nightmare. But seeing the mountains and blood says enough.

A few tears escape again. But no sounds come out.

I look over to the man, his chest.... Rising and falling. He's alive... But that's impossible.

His dragon looks at me, it's head tilted as it looks at me. It would take me 2 minutes to get my bag from Riorson house.

Something kicks in, something that alarms me to get out of plain sight. I don't want to leave Naolin, but there's nothing I can do now. I get up and walk the two minutes to Riorson house. Take my bag from underneath a hatch, and walk back.

The orange is still there, curled around the man, most likely keeping his body warm.

I crouch down next to Naolin. He once gave me a simple ring, he had the same one, I put mine on a necklace I haven't taken off since I put it on. I carefully take his off his finger. Trying not to feel the dead cold that is now his body. I pocket it safe for later. I'll come back for him later, that's a promise. I give him one last kiss between his brows. He was always much taller than me, it was the highest spot on his face I could reach.

I begin to walk away when the orange snaps my way. I flinch and look at it, its snout going to the man's head, then back up at me.

"I'm not taking a body with me." My voice is void of emotion. The orange huff looks at me with its lethal eyes.

I sigh, too drained to argue. I look at the steep hill i’m supposed to go down to reach my already selected safe place. There is no way i can drag a body over there, dead or alive.

I look back at the man, his chest rising and falling slowly. Naolin gave his life for him, there’s got to be a reason for that.

I shoulder my pack and secure it, i attach my bow to it and walk over to the man, he looks pale but not like Naolin. I hook my arms under his and lift him up, he’s heavy but i’ll manage. Once i have a secure grip on him, i slowly start dragging him to the selected hiding place. The dragon not far behind, giving him occasional glares.

☆

Eventually we get to the cave, the dragon actually fiting in it, i hoped he wouldnt. He looks like he wants to grill me.

I lay his body down near the center of the cave, drop my pack and bow. Getting here took so much time it’s almost nightfall. I go to light the fire that me and my aunt had secured a week ago when a flash of fire blows past me, scaring me, thinking that he finally decided to use me as food. But i feel… nothing. I open my eyes to find the fire place on fire, i look back at the dragon who is settling behind the man.

“That's a way to do it too i suppose.” I mutter. I open my pack and finally drink the water i’ve been yearning for. It feels so good, my entire mouth has been dry for way too long.

After that i lay myself on the stone part of the cave. Perhaps letting a fire on, here, now, during the night isn’t smart but it sure as hell brings some comfort.

The next day, i stay inside, having packed some food to live on. By night time the man wakes up.

I sit myself next to him, he’s too weak to attack so no use in tying him up. His eyes open slowly, the amber shade are in certain places darker than in the places where the fire reflects.

I give him the space to sit up and collect himself, the orange dragon is now awake it's head tilted in a curious manner.

I start speaking once it looks like he collected himself. "Who are you?"

He looks at me clueless. I'd be confused to if I was in his place.

"Where am I?" He says quiet, his voice hoarse from not having used it in a while, or from being brought back from the dead. "In a cave in the Aretian mountains." I start but I need to know. "Do you remember what happened?" I ask cautiously.

"Someone shot me with an.... Arrow. I fell..." His face is scrunched up like he has a headache. "I don't remember anything after that."

"Do you know... Naolin?" The question is quiet, whispered.

His face twists in a painful expression. It says enough. "He... Sacrificed himself for you." A sob threatens to break through. My throat tightens.

I see the first tear fall down his cheek. And my heart aches even though I don't know him at all. Naolin was a beautiful soul.

I come closer to him. Carefully wrapping my arms around him and pull I him into me as he sobs.

I might not know him but we share grief for the Same person, the same soul we lost.

☆

The days after, we go through the motions. I've come to know his name; Brennan. He sleeps most of the time, when he wakes up he eats a little. When food goes low I start hunting to get fish out of a small pond not that far from here. I can't go far away, it's too dangerous now.

We're almost a week later when I go out at night, needing fresh air. It's been difficult not knowing what's happening out there. Feeling like you constantly have to look over your shoulder.

I look up at the sky letting out a deep breath. My heart aching the be with the ones I love. But I'll see them again. Soon.

"I'll see you soon dad, I love you." I whisper to the moon. I look up at the sky one last time.

To see a dragon fly over by the moon, from the moonlight it seems to be a red one.

☆

[mightyflamethrower]

The diversity, equity, and inclusion project, often seen as a major element of the so-called “woke” creed along with green fanaticism, keeps popping up as a possible subtext in a variety of recent tragedies.

In the case of the Los Angeles fires, Mayor Karen Bass, who cut the fire department budget, was warned of the mounting fire dangers of the Santa Anna winds and parched brush on surrounding hillsides. No matter—she junketed in Uganda. When furor followed, on cue, her defenders decried a racialist attack on “a black woman.”

Her possible stand-in deputy mayor for “security” was under suspension for allegations that he called in a bomb threat to the Los Angeles city council—a factor mysteriously forgotten.

The fire chief previously was on record mostly for highlighting her DEI agendas rather than emphasizing traditional fire department criteria like response time or keeping fire vehicles running and out of the shop.

One of her deputies had boasted that in emergencies, citizens appreciated most of all that arriving first responders looked like them. (But most people in need worry only whether the first responders seem to know what they are doing.) She further snarked that if women allegedly were not physically able to carry out a man in times of danger, then it was the man’s fault for being in the wrong place.

The Los Angeles water and power czar—culpable for a needlessly dry reservoir that could have provided 117 million gallons to help save Pacific Palisades—was once touted primarily as the first Latina to run such a vital agency. But did that fact matter much to the 18 million people whose very survival depended on deliverable water in the otherwise desert tinderbox of greater Los Angeles?

In all these cases, the point is not necessarily whether the key players who might have prevented the destruction of some 25,000 acres of Los Angeles were selected—or exempted—on the basis of their race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Rather the worry is that in all these cases, those with responsibility for keeping Los Angeles viable, themselves eagerly self-identified first by their race, gender, or sexual orientation—as if this fact alone was synonymous with competence and deference.

In fact, racial or sex identity has nothing to do with whether a water and power director grasped the dangers of a bone-dry but vital reservoir; whether the fire department must know how many fire hydrants remain in working order; or whether a mayor understood that in times of existential danger she must stay on the job and not fly on an optional junket to Africa.

As of yet, we have no idea exactly all the mishaps that caused a horrific air crash at Reagan Airport in Washington. The only clear consensus that has emerged is that the horrific deaths could have been easily preventable—but were not because, in perfect storm fashion, there were multiple system failures. In that sense, both the Los Angeles and Washington, DC, disasters are alike.

When a military helicopter crashes into a passenger jet in Washington, DC, airspace—an area that has not seen such a disaster for 43 years—the likely cause is either wrongly altered protocols or clear human error, or both.

So, it is vital to discover what the causes of the disaster were to prevent such a recurrence. As in the Los Angeles cataclysm, the role of DEI—the method of hiring regulatory agency administrators, air traffic controllers, or pilots on bases other than meritocracy—becomes a legitimate inquiry.

To dispel such worries, authorities must disclose all the facts as they do when there are no controversies over DEI. Yet we never learned the name of the Capitol police officer who fatally shot unarmed Ashli Babbitt for months, nor received evidence of his spotty service record. The same initial hesitation in releasing information marked news about the ship that hit the Francis Scott Bridge near Baltimore and why traffic barriers were not up in the French Quarter before the recent terrorist attack in New Orleans.

In the Washington, DC, crash, two questions arise about the conduct of pilots, air traffic controllers, and the administrators responsible for hiring, staffing, and evaluating such employees.

The first issue is whether hiring, retention, and promotion in the airline industry or the military is not fully meritocratic.

That is, were personnel hired on the basis of their exhibited superior education, practical experience, and superb scores on relevant examinations in matters relating to air travel? Or were they instead passed over because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation?

Was the shortage of controllers a direct result not of an unqualified pool of applicants but rather because of racial restrictions place upon it to reduce its size?

Second, were the promoters of DEI confident that they could argue that “diversity, equity, and inclusion” were as important criteria for the operation of a complex aircraft system as the past traditional criteria that had qualified air traffic controllers, pilots, and administrators?

Not only did DEI considerations often supersede past traditional meritocratic requirements for employment, but DEI champions had also argued that “diversity” was either as important to, or more important than, traditional hiring and retention evaluations.

The answers to these first two questions make it incumbent to ask further whether DEI played a role in the Washington, D.C., crash, similar to how it may have in the Los Angeles wildfires.

It is not racist, sexist, or homophobic to ask such legitimate questions, especially because advocates themselves so often give more attention and emphasis to their race, gender, and sexual orientation than their assumed impressive expertise, proven experience, and superior education. In other words, had one’s race, sex, or orientation been incidental to employment rather than essential, such questions from the public might never have arisen.

Finally, what are the problems with DEI that have not just lost its support but put fear into the public that, like the Russian commissar system of old, it has the potential to undermine the very sinews of a sophisticated, complex society?

DEI is an ideology or a protocol that supersedes disinterred evaluation. In that regard, ironically, it is akin to the era of Jim Crow, when talented individuals were irrationally barred from consideration due to their mere skin color. Like any system that prioritizes identity over merit—whether Marist-Leninist credentials in the old Soviet Union or tribal bias in the contemporary Middle East—a complex society that embraces tribalism inevitably begins to become dysfunctional.

DEI does not end at hiring. Rather, once a candidate senses he is employed on the basis of his race, sex, or sexual orientation, then it is natural he must assume such preferences are tenured throughout his career. Thus, he will always be judged by the same criterion that led to his hiring. In other words, DEI is a lifetime contractual agreement, an insurance policy of sorts once DEI credentials are established as preeminent over all others.

The advocates of DEI rarely confess that meritocratic criteria have been superseded by considerations of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Instead, to the degree that they claim such criteria are not at odds with meritocracy, they argue that the methods of assessing talent and performance are themselves flawed. Tests then are unsound and systemically biased and therefore largely irrelevant. Few DEI advocates make the argument that diversity is so important that it justifies lowering the traditional standards of competence.

Once DEI tribal protocols are established, they are calcified and unchanged. That is when supposed DEI demographics are overrepresented in particular fields such as the postal service or professional sports, then such “disproportionality” is justified on “reparatory” grounds or ironically on merit. If other non-DEI groups, by DEI’s own standards, are deprived of “equity” and “inclusion” or “underrepresented,” it is irrelevant. DEI is, again, a lifetime concession, regardless of changes in status, income, or privilege. An Oprah Winfrey or a Barack Obama—two of the most privileged people on the planet—by virtue of their race, at least as it is defined in the Western world—are permanently deserving of deference.

DEI is also ossified in the sense that it makes no allowance for class. Asian Americans, when convenient, can be counted as DEI hires even though, in terms of per capita income, most Asian groups do better than so-called whites. Under DEI, the children of elites like Barack Obama or Hakim Jeffries will always be in need of reparatory consideration but not so the children of those in East Palestine, Ohio.

Because DEI is an ideology, a faith-based creed, it does not rely on logic and is thus exempt from charges of irrationality, inconsistency, and hypocrisy. The belief system feels no obligation to defend itself from rational arguments. For example, are not racially separate graduations or safe spaces contrary to the corpus of civil rights legislation of the 1960s? There is no such thing as DEI irony: the system contrived to supposedly remedy the de jure racism of some 60-70 years ago itself hinges on de jure racial fixations as the remedy—now, tomorrow, forever.

As in all monolithic dogmas such as Sovietism or Maoism, skeptics, critics, and apostates cannot be tolerated. So, in the case of DEI, logical criticism is preemptively aborted by boilerplate charges of racism, sexism, and homophobia. And the mere accusation is synonymous with conviction, thereby establishing DEI deterrence, under which no one dares to risk cancellation, de-platforming, ostracism, or career suicide by questioning the faith.

DEI is also incoherent. It is essentially a reversion to tribalism in which solidarity is predicated on shared race, sex, or sexual orientation, not through individual background, particular economic status, or one’s unique character. No DEI czar knows why in the pre-Obama era, East Asians did not qualify for DEI status, though they seem to now, or when and how the transgendered were suddenly not statistically still traditionally .01 percent of the population but, in some campus surveys, magically became 10-20 percent of polled undergraduates. No one understands what percentage of one’s DNA qualifies for DEI status, only that any system of the past that fixated on ascertaining racial essentialism, such as the one-drop rule of the old South or the multiplicity of racial categories in the former South Africa, or the yellow-star evil of the Third Reich, largely imploded, in part by the weight of its own absurd amorality.

DEI never explains the exact individual bereavement that justifies preferentiality. All claims are instead collective. And they are encased in the amber of slavery, Jim Crow, or homophobia or sexism of decades past. Social progress does not exist; the malady is eternal. The candidate for DEI consideration never must ascertain how, when, or where he was subject to serious discrimination or bias. And that may explain all the needed prefix adjectives that have sprouted up to prove these -isms and -ologies exist when they otherwise cannot be detected, such as “systemic,” “implicit,” “insidious,” or “structural” racism rather than just “racism.”

DEI never envisions its demise or what follows from it, much less whether there are superior ways to achieve equality of opportunity rather than mandated results. The beneficiaries of DEI seldom ponder its efficacy, much less whether resources would be better allotted to K-12 education during the critical years of development. And they certainly show little concern about those often poorer and more underprivileged who lack the prescribed race, gender, or orientation for special DEI considerations.

In sum, because of these inconsistencies, Donald Trump may well be able to end DEI with a wave of an executive order—simply because its foundations were always built of sand and thus any bold push would knock over the entire shaky edifice.

[ausetkmt]

The Kansas City police officer who shot and killed a DoorDash driver behind the wheel of his speeding vehicle as his girlfriend sat in the passenger’s seat will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said.

Amaree’ya Henderson, 25, had just completed his last delivery on April 26 when he and his girlfriend were pulled over for an alleged traffic violation. During the stop, Henderson asked his girlfriend to use FaceTime to contact his mother, who set out for the scene.

At some point before his mother arrived, Henderson started to drive away from the stop. That attempt to leave left one of the officers between the door of the speeding vehicle and Henderson, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said in a Friday statement explaining the decision not to bring criminal charges.

“At the time the officer discharged his weapon, the suspect was driving the car at a high rate of speed while the officer was stuck between the door and the driver’s compartment,” Dupree said. “While holding on to the moving vehicle, the officer told the suspect to stop.”

After Henderson allegedly “refused commands”, the officer shot and killed him, Dupree said, noting that state law permits police to use deadly force when facing “immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death.”

Henderson’s mother, who was still on a FaceTime call with her son when he was killed, said that police body-camera footage she reviewed shows that the officer was in the wrong.

“[The officer] was in no danger,” mom Pauletta Johnson, girlfriend Shakira Hill, and family attorney Nuru Witherspoon said Friday, according to local outlet KCUR. “He made choices that directly violated the use-of-force policies in place to protect citizens and himself.”

Authorities have not publicly identified the officer by name.

The video tells a different story than that described by prosecutors, they said in a joint statement.

“The body cam shows a disgusting display of excessive force, and the unlawful, unnecessary killing of another young, unarmed Black man,” the statement said.

The footage is yet to be publicly released.

Kay Harper Williams, another attorney representing the Henderson family, called for that to change.

“The police department has the ability to release the footage to the public, now that the investigation is closed,” Williams said, according to local outlet KSHB. “Pauletta Johnson said it best. If there is nothing to hide, then KCKPD should release the full, unredacted video to the public.”

The department said in a statement that it is now reviewing whether the officer followed policy.

"As with all officer-involved shootings, now that the independent investigation has taken place and the Wyandotte County District Attorney has conducted his review, KCKPD will now conduct an administrative review to determine that policy was followed; and if any changes to existing policy are warranted," the department said. "Due to potential civil litigation, the Department will make no further statements regarding the incident."

[rebeleden]

Amber Guyger Given 10 Years In Prison For Killing Man In His Dallas Apartment : NPR

CC BRO CODES

CC FATAL SWIRLING

[urbtnews]

Police Violence is Gun Violence

Police Violence is Gun Violence. Law enforcement’s use of excessive force garners renewed scrutiny following today's verdict, in which a jury found Aurora, Colorado. Police officer Nathan Woodyard not guilty of reckless manslaughter and a lesser-included charge of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain. McClain an unarmed 23-year-old Black man who died in 2019 after being subdued by police. Later he was injected with ketamine by paramedics. Unsurprisingly, police shootings and incidents of police brutality contribute significantly to cycles of distrust and community violence. Every instance of police brutality reinforces this mistrust. Although no national or standard definition exists, an officer-involved shooting (OIS) is the discharge of a firearm. Have "We the People" Become Desensitized? Research on the impact of violence has consistently found that the more exposure people have to violence in television, video games, and real life, the more they become desensitized or habituated to future violence. With the desensitization of violence, people's natural negative responses to such stimuli are reduced, along with the amount of empathy and sympathy they have for victims of violence. As access to creative media continues to expand, issues related to the desensitization towards police violence necessitate highlighting the harmful relationships between the criminal justice system and American civilians. The introduction of police body cameras has heightened public debate on the use of force by police officers. With a particular view of officer-involved shootings (OIS). For example, somebody videotaped the critical piece of evidence in the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) police officers. The video-recorded beating of Rodney King exposed the use of police violence to communities that would otherwise not witness such acts. Similar to the Rodney King incident, videos of violence in Black communities continue to be shown on a rapid loop on various media platforms to showcase the improprieties of the police, the victims, or both. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Duty to Protect and Serve In one year, more than 50 million persons in the U.S. have contact with police during a traffic stops, street stops, arrest, traffic accident, or resident-initiated contact. Law enforcement officers have the authority to use deadly force to protect their own lives and the lives of others and, under certain circumstances, stop the flight of felons. It is a tremendous authority, and its use generates intense public interest and scrutiny. Particularly in a world where camera footage can be made immediately available or even live-streamed as it is taking place. Incidents in which police officers use deadly force have led to protests and civil unrest in many communities. That said, brutality and dehumanization are deeply embedded in many departments. PICTURE: Police car with red and blue lights flashing. PHOTO: COURTESY OF: Wikipedia (Creative Commons) Deadly Use of Force On average, police in the United States shoot and kill more than 1,000 people every year, according to an ongoing analysis by The Washington Post. While police fatally shot a similar number of unarmed White non-Hispanic Americans, the racial disparities are apparent, given that there are five times as many white Americans as Black or African Americans. According to an UIC School of Public Health study, legal intervention injuries had more severe outcomes. Additionally, they disproportionately impacted marginalized communities -- Black and Brown Americans (BIPOC), as well as people suffering from mental health conditions. Many police officers see their use of deadly force as morally justified, obligatory, and even virtuous. However, the use of deadly force is something that we, as citizens and police departments nationwide, should not take lightly. Officer-Involved Shootings Statistics Although half of the people fatally shot by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, both Black/African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos are twice as likely to experience the threat of or use of force during police-initiated contact despite maintaining a population roughly one-fifth the number of White non-Hispanics. While White non-Hispanics account for roughly 76 percent (75.5%) of the U.S. population, Black or African Americans account for approximately 14 percent (13.6%). Blacks are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White non-Hispanic Americans. Hispanic or Latino Americans, who comprise roughly 19 percent (19.1%) of the U.S. population, are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate. To put this into perspective, in comparison to the 2.3 per million White, non-Hispanic Americans who are fatally shot by police per year, 5.7 Black or African Americans per million, and 2.4 Hispanic or Latino Americans are fatally shot by police each year, according to The Washington Post Fatal Force Database. PICTURE: Legal Intervention Deaths Distribution by Race (2020). PHOTO: COURTESY OF: The Washington Post Fatal Force Database. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence The Washington Post Fatal Force Database Findings Since January 1, 2015, 8,811 victims have been fatally shot by an on-duty police officer. Of these, 3,811 of the victims were White non-Hispanic, 2,027 victims were Black or African American, and 1,388 were Hispanic or Latino. Startlingly, of the 8,811 victims, 517 were unarmed, and 4,714 were not fleeing at the time police killed them. Combined, unarmed, non-fleeing victims accounted for 236 of the victims fatally shot during police-initiated contact. Even more appalling is the fact that of the 236 unarmed, non-fleeing victims, 70 were Black or African American, and 43 were Hispanic or Latino. Combined, these underserved, marginalized communities account for 113 of the unarmed, non-fleeing victims fatally shot by law enforcement, while 104 were White non-Hispanics. Researchers have estimated that, on average, a Black unarmed person is at least as likely to be shot by police as someone who is white and armed. The number of fatal police shootings has risen slightly in recent years. Police killed the highest number of people on record in 2022. Officer-Involved Shootings Involving BIPOC Victims The history of policing and its relationship to Black and Brown communities in this country is complex and fraught. Brandon Cole On August 5, 2023, Brandon Cole, an unarmed 36-year-old Black man, was fatally when two Denver Police Department officers responded to a "violent" domestic violence call in the southwestern part of the city and found a Cole, who had reportedly "thrown" his wife from her wheelchair and was beating his 14-year-old son. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said at the scene, Cole "became agitated and aggressive" and advanced toward the officers after stopping the assault. When he disobeyed their several commands, one of the officers deployed a Taser, which was ineffective, Thomas said. That's when the other officer fired his duty weapon. Officers suspected he had a knife, but he did not possess one. As it turned out, Cole only had a black marker in his hand. Based on how Cole is acting in the video, including seeming to conceal one of his hands behind his back, two experts in police use of force said the officer seemed to act reasonably in response to someone she believed to have a knife and intended to hurt her. https://youtu.be/C9KFRF9dE40?si=NTJvtlBQz5pmBVCX VIDEO: Officer-Involved Shooting: 2300 Cedar Ave - Body Camera 2, VIDEO: COURTESY OF: Denver Police VIA YOUTUBE. (DATED: AugUSt 10, 2023) Isidra Clara Castillo On July 9, 2023, Isidra Clara Castillo, an unarmed 38-year-old Hispanic woman, was fatally shot in an officer-involved shooting while a passenger in a vehicle during a traffic stop in Amarillo, Texas. Police said the license plate on the suspect vehicle did not match the vehicle that it was on. According to the Amarillo Police Department, Andrew Scott Norton, 32, pointed a gun at officers after exiting the vehicle. Seated in the front seat during the incident, Castillo was, also, struck by gunfire. He died at the scene, and she later died from her injuries. It did not result in any injuries to officers. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence Officer-Involved Shootings Involving Victims In Mental Crisis Lamoris Dejuan Speight Jr. On September 10, 2023, Lamoris Dejuan Speight Jr., a 22-year-old, unarmed Black Army reservist who was "in mental crisis," was shot and killed by a Wilson County deputy in Saratoga, N.C., after he choked another deputy almost to the point of unconsciousness, according to the sheriff's department. James Lanier On February 24, 2023, James Lanier, a 34-year-old, unarmed and naked Black man, who had a history of and had been dealing with mental health issues was fatally shot by a Wallace police officer in the parking lot of a Wallace, N.C. convenience store. According to Wallace Police Chief James "Jimmy" Crayton, Lanier attacked the officer and continued attacking even after being tased. According to Chief Crayton, Lanier's behavior was more indicative of someone under the influence of controlled substances than of someone experiencing a mental health crisis, or perhaps both. Lanier was naked and disturbing customers at the time, the store owner said at the time of the incident. According to District Attorney Ernie Lee, Wallace Police Department officers responded. Video surveillance shows Lanier pushing the officer and refusing to back off despite repeated requests. The officer tased Lanier, but it appeared to have no impact on him. A way to engage with persons with a history of mental illness, which does not result in death, must exist. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence Combatting Dehumanizing Language Law enforcement refers to victims as "subjects" involved in the incidents. Language like this dehumanizes the victim because it denies their humanness and portrays them as unthinking brutes or unfeeling machines. Good intentions don't blunt the impact of dehumanizing words or or make the language any less damaging. There needs to be an intentional re-training of police officers to model the use of people-first language to combat dehumanization. After all, we are all human beings human beings capable of deserving, suffering, and understanding the harm done to us. Call for Transformation to Policing One of the most dangerous things is for a police force is to lose the trust of its community. Police shootings, as well as other forms of police brutality, do untold damage to these already fragile relationships. The public must demand a transformation to policing. One that holds officers in the highest regard for the sanctity of human life, dignity, and people's liberty. Only in extreme circumstances and when all less-lethal means have failed, should officers apply deadly force. Communities torn apart by distrust, gun violence, overpolicing, and underprotection have a clear path forward. When police departments focus on building trust and concentrating their efforts around violence prevention, both law enforcement officers and community members are safer. We must rebuild community trust and refocus law enforcement efforts around just, effective, and proactive responses to community violence. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence. Read the full article

[uvmagazine]

Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter Released From Prison After Serving 16 Months For Daunte Wright shooting

Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, has been released after spending 16 months in prison.

Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, has been released after spending 16 months in prison. Her conviction and sentence Potter was convicted of two counts of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Wright, an unarmed Black man killed during a April 2021 traffic stop near Minneapolis. Wright was pulled over for having…

[rnewspost]

Donovan Lewis' family files suit against Columbus cop who shot him

More than five months after a Columbus police officer fatally shot Donovan Lewis, a 20-year-old unarmed Black man, his family is taking legal action. Lawyers for Lewis’ mother, Rebecca Duran, filed a civil lawsuit Thursday against Columbus K-9 officer Ricky Anderson, who killed Lewis with a single shot to the abdomen while executing a warrant at night. Four other officers who were…

[kaapstadmk]

I want to pull something out, here: the graphs are misleading.

They are titled "How many unarmed black men were killed in [year]", but the data in the footer gives the number who were fatally shot.

So, the data quoted does not match the question asked. After all, there are more ways to kill someone than just shooting them. This serves to create and perpetuate a narrative that liberals are crazy or overreacting.

Additionally, when using anecdotes regarding the perception of threat necessitating lethal response, we should be diligent to also look at how similar behaviors are responded to when coming from different demographics.

Lastly, this whole post is an example of straw-manning. Rather than address the entirety of what BLM is looking to address (police violence in general, unequal policing, historic/systematic oppression, etc), they're taking a singular aspect, reframing the focus onto that one tidbit, presenting it as the whole motivation behind the movement, and then using it to say the entire movement is a sham.

Link: How Informed are Americans about Race and Policing? (skeptic.com)

==

FYI, 2019 survey.

Difference between 2019 and 2021:

Note: "unarmed" does not mean "not dangerous."

https://boghossian.substack.com/p/wokeness-public-safety-blm-and-antifa

According to the Washington Post’s comprehensive database of police killings, police shot and killed 54 unarmed people in 2019, 26 were listed as white, 12 black, 11 Hispanic, and 5 “other.”

It’s also important to note that the majority of the twelve shot were actively trying to hurt or kill the officer. For example, in at least two of the twelve cases involving black men, the perpetrators were killed while trying to run over an officer with a car. In another, an individual took and used the officer’s taser on him. In another, a female officer was being physically beaten by a suspect when she fired. All those cases were classified as “unarmed.”

“Unarmed” never means “not deadly.” There is always a gun involved—the officer’s. In many encounters, the suspect is fighting to get ahold of it. In the Ferguson case, it was claimed that Michael Brown had his hands up when Officer Darren Wilson shot him, in cold blood, in the middle of the street. Upon investigation, the forensic evidence as well as a half-dozen black witnesses confirmed Officer Wilson’s account. Michael Brown tried to take Officer Wilson’s gun and was charging at him when shot. The “Hands up, don’t shoot!’ slogan was a lie.

Actual unarmed, unjustified killings are extremely rare; in the low single digits.

https://boghossian.substack.com/p/race-homicide-and-data

In reality, when you remove those cases from the data, you're left with one or two. One or two cases every year, out of a country of 350 million some odd people. One or two cases. That's what Black Lives Matter is focusing on. They have things to say about just about everything except the 7000 to 8000 homicides per year of young black Americans.

[ausetkmt]

A shocking case of an Ohio police officer who released a police dog on an unarmed Black man who had his hands raised has thrown the use of canines by law enforcement back into the national spotlight in the US.

On Wednesday, the Circleville police department announced that the officer, who has been identified as Ryan Speakman, had been terminated “effective immediately”, New 5 Cleveland reported.

“Circleville police officer Ryan Speakman’s actions during the review of his canine apprehension of suspect Jadarrius Rose on July 4 show that Officer Speakman did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers,” the police department said.

Numerous reports in recent years have pointed to the ways in which police dogs have been used as weapons across the US by police and prison staff, often involving victims who were people of color.

Last year, video footage appeared to show California police officers using a police dog to severely maul an Uber driver who missed his car payments. In 2016, the family of an unarmed Black man in Mississippi who was severely attacked by a police dog and then fatally shot by a white police officer filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

A study released by the Marshall Project in 2020 found that many people attacked by police dogs did not have a weapon, were not accused of violent crimes or were not suspects at all.

A separate 2021 report by the organization found that between 2017 and 2019, Baton Rouge police dogs in Louisiana bit at least 146 people, with the majority of them being Black.

Earlier this year, a report published by the US justice department after the botched police raid that killed Breonna Taylor in Kentucky found that police dogs used by Louisville’s metro police department were found to sometimes not release a person even after being ordered by their handlers to do so.

Similarly, a recent Insider report found that from 2017 to 2022, patrol dogs used by state prisons were ordered to attack incarcerated people at least 295 times. It also reported at least 13 incidents during which the dogs went rogue and attacked correction officers or other prison staff.

But the Ohio case is seen as especially shocking, not least because the incident was caught on film and showed that other police officers ordered the canine officer not to release the dog on Rose.

The incident unfolded on 4 July, when dashcam video captured by the Ohio state highway patrol shows a trooper trying to stop a semi-truck driven by 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose for allegedly missing a mudflap.

Video footage appears to show Rose pulling over at one point before continuing to drive again. According to a recording of a call that Rose placed to 911, he told the dispatcher, “They’re trying to kill me,” News 5 Cleveland reports.

Following a chase through three counties, troopers eventually used spike strips to destroy the truck’s tires, which then forced Rose to come to a stop.

Video footage shows Rose exiting the truck as officers urge him to approach them with his hands raised or to get on the ground. Speakman can be seen holding back a police dog as a trooper repeatedly yells: “Do not release the dog with his hands up! “Do not. Do not. Do not.”

Nevertheless, Speakman appears to release the dog, which can then be seen running towards Rose before attacking him on the ground. Rose can be heard screaming in agony, at one point yelling, “Please! Please!” Meanwhile, a trooper repeatedly yells, “Get the dog off of him! Get the dog!” as multiple officers try to separate the dog from Rose.

At one point, video footage appears to show a trooper walking away from the scene in shock as they cover their face with their hands. Officers are then shown placing Rose, who is still on the ground writhing in pain, in handcuffs.

Speaking to ABC on Monday, Circleville’s mayor, Donald McIlroy, said that Speakman was put on paid administrative leave last Thursday and that the dog was put in a kennel.

Following the announcement of Speakman’s termination, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association released a statement saying that Speakman was fired “without just cause”. It also released an official grievance form which it filed on behalf of Speakman.

Meanwhile, the national civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the attorney Kenneth Abbarno hailed the termination of Speakman, saying:

“It was the right decision to fire Ryan Speakman for releasing the police canine on Jadarrius … The excessive force Speakman used was not a baton or taser like we often see in these incidents, it was a live animal that repeatedly sunk its teeth into an already terrified Jadarrius, conjuring disturbing images from the past.”

In a joint statement last Friday, McIlroy and the police chief, G Shawn Baer, said that the incident would be evaluated by a use-of-force review board with the findings expected to be released next week, CNN reported.

According to the Circleville police department, the dog was trained by Shallow Creek Kennels, a Pennsylvania-based police dog training facility, with protocols that are standard for service dogs used by the US military, as well as various agencies including Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Following the incident, Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, said: “This incident in Circleville should be a lesson, a wake-up call to everyone that police training in Ohio is not equal. It needs to be equal.”

“While we certainly respect Governor DeWine’s views and are always ready to discuss how to improve police training, Circleville’s canine teams of dogs and officers are trained and certified to meet current Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission-recognized standards,” the Circleville police department said, New 5 Cleveland reported.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

This weekend will mark one year since a deputy in Harris County fatally shot Brooks, a 47-year-old unarmed Black man, after he allegedly shoplifted detergent from a Dollar General in Houston and pushed a store worker out of the way as he left. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office still has not sent the case to a grand jury. "It should not have taken this long for the case to go to the grand jury regardless if you were prepared for the trial and trying to get the right grand jury,” Sadiyah Evangelista Karriem, an attorney for Brooks’ family, told HuffPost. “Of course we want it done right, but it should not have taken this long.” District Attorney Kim Ogg did not respond to a request for comment. On July 8, 2022, Sgt. Garrett Hardin of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to 911 calls from a worker and a witness about an alleged shoplifting and assault at the Dollar General. “A customer is running out of the store and he hit me on the way out,” the female employee said during one call, a recording of which has been released by police. “I just want him to get arrested because he is literally running to the back of the building right now.” She told the dispatcher that she did not believe Brooks was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and that she did not believe he had a weapon. She also said that she did not need medical care. Bodycam footage shows Hardin chasing Brooks near a gas station. It then shows that Hardin hit Brooks with a stun gun, which knocked him down, before Hardin pinned him to the ground and shot him where his head and neck met.

The price of a man’s life…

😢

[adventuresoutsidethegenderbinary]

Justice for Daunte Wright

Daunte Wright, a 20 year old African-American man, was fatally shot by police yesterday. 

His encounter with the police occurred over a traffic violation. A man is dead because of a traffic violation. We obviously don’t know all of the details of the situation yet, and I have read reports that the police meant to taser him but accidently shot him, but there is no reason that an unarmed person should be killed over a traffic violation. 

This keeps happening to Black people across the country, and it is inexcusable. Mr. Wright had a two year old son. He had a family. He had a life, and it was unjustly stolen from him.

We can’t let this keep happening. We have to create change. 

[urbtnews]

Police Violence is Gun Violence

Police Violence is Gun Violence. Law enforcement’s use of excessive force garners renewed scrutiny following today's verdict, in which a jury found Aurora, Colorado. Police officer Nathan Woodyard not guilty of reckless manslaughter and a lesser-included charge of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain. McClain an unarmed 23-year-old Black man who died in 2019 after being subdued by police. Later he was injected with ketamine by paramedics. Unsurprisingly, police shootings and incidents of police brutality contribute significantly to cycles of distrust and community violence. Every instance of police brutality reinforces this mistrust. Although no national or standard definition exists, an officer-involved shooting (OIS) is the discharge of a firearm. Have "We the People" Become Desensitized? Research on the impact of violence has consistently found that the more exposure people have to violence in television, video games, and real life, the more they become desensitized or habituated to future violence. With the desensitization of violence, people's natural negative responses to such stimuli are reduced, along with the amount of empathy and sympathy they have for victims of violence. As access to creative media continues to expand, issues related to the desensitization towards police violence necessitate highlighting the harmful relationships between the criminal justice system and American civilians. The introduction of police body cameras has heightened public debate on the use of force by police officers. With a particular view of officer-involved shootings (OIS). For example, somebody videotaped the critical piece of evidence in the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) police officers. The video-recorded beating of Rodney King exposed the use of police violence to communities that would otherwise not witness such acts. Similar to the Rodney King incident, videos of violence in Black communities continue to be shown on a rapid loop on various media platforms to showcase the improprieties of the police, the victims, or both. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Duty to Protect and Serve In one year, more than 50 million persons in the U.S. have contact with police during a traffic stops, street stops, arrest, traffic accident, or resident-initiated contact. Law enforcement officers have the authority to use deadly force to protect their own lives and the lives of others and, under certain circumstances, stop the flight of felons. It is a tremendous authority, and its use generates intense public interest and scrutiny. Particularly in a world where camera footage can be made immediately available or even live-streamed as it is taking place. Incidents in which police officers use deadly force have led to protests and civil unrest in many communities. That said, brutality and dehumanization are deeply embedded in many departments. PICTURE: Police car with red and blue lights flashing. PHOTO: COURTESY OF: Wikipedia (Creative Commons) Deadly Use of Force On average, police in the United States shoot and kill more than 1,000 people every year, according to an ongoing analysis by The Washington Post. While police fatally shot a similar number of unarmed White non-Hispanic Americans, the racial disparities are apparent, given that there are five times as many white Americans as Black or African Americans. According to an UIC School of Public Health study, legal intervention injuries had more severe outcomes. Additionally, they disproportionately impacted marginalized communities -- Black and Brown Americans (BIPOC), as well as people suffering from mental health conditions. Many police officers see their use of deadly force as morally justified, obligatory, and even virtuous. However, the use of deadly force is something that we, as citizens and police departments nationwide, should not take lightly. Officer-Involved Shootings Statistics Although half of the people fatally shot by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, both Black/African-Americans and Hispanics/Latinos are twice as likely to experience the threat of or use of force during police-initiated contact despite maintaining a population roughly one-fifth the number of White non-Hispanics. While White non-Hispanics account for roughly 76 percent (75.5%) of the U.S. population, Black or African Americans account for approximately 14 percent (13.6%). Blacks are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White non-Hispanic Americans. Hispanic or Latino Americans, who comprise roughly 19 percent (19.1%) of the U.S. population, are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate. To put this into perspective, in comparison to the 2.3 per million White, non-Hispanic Americans who are fatally shot by police per year, 5.7 Black or African Americans per million, and 2.4 Hispanic or Latino Americans are fatally shot by police each year, according to The Washington Post Fatal Force Database. PICTURE: Legal Intervention Deaths Distribution by Race (2020). PHOTO: COURTESY OF: The Washington Post Fatal Force Database. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence The Washington Post Fatal Force Database Findings Since January 1, 2015, 8,811 victims have been fatally shot by an on-duty police officer. Of these, 3,811 of the victims were White non-Hispanic, 2,027 victims were Black or African American, and 1,388 were Hispanic or Latino. Startlingly, of the 8,811 victims, 517 were unarmed, and 4,714 were not fleeing at the time police killed them. Combined, unarmed, non-fleeing victims accounted for 236 of the victims fatally shot during police-initiated contact. Even more appalling is the fact that of the 236 unarmed, non-fleeing victims, 70 were Black or African American, and 43 were Hispanic or Latino. Combined, these underserved, marginalized communities account for 113 of the unarmed, non-fleeing victims fatally shot by law enforcement, while 104 were White non-Hispanics. Researchers have estimated that, on average, a Black unarmed person is at least as likely to be shot by police as someone who is white and armed. The number of fatal police shootings has risen slightly in recent years. Police killed the highest number of people on record in 2022. Officer-Involved Shootings Involving BIPOC Victims The history of policing and its relationship to Black and Brown communities in this country is complex and fraught. Brandon Cole On August 5, 2023, Brandon Cole, an unarmed 36-year-old Black man, was fatally when two Denver Police Department officers responded to a "violent" domestic violence call in the southwestern part of the city and found a Cole, who had reportedly "thrown" his wife from her wheelchair and was beating his 14-year-old son. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said at the scene, Cole "became agitated and aggressive" and advanced toward the officers after stopping the assault. When he disobeyed their several commands, one of the officers deployed a Taser, which was ineffective, Thomas said. That's when the other officer fired his duty weapon. Officers suspected he had a knife, but he did not possess one. As it turned out, Cole only had a black marker in his hand. Based on how Cole is acting in the video, including seeming to conceal one of his hands behind his back, two experts in police use of force said the officer seemed to act reasonably in response to someone she believed to have a knife and intended to hurt her. https://youtu.be/C9KFRF9dE40?si=NTJvtlBQz5pmBVCX VIDEO: Officer-Involved Shooting: 2300 Cedar Ave - Body Camera 2, VIDEO: COURTESY OF: Denver Police VIA YOUTUBE. (DATED: AugUSt 10, 2023) Isidra Clara Castillo On July 9, 2023, Isidra Clara Castillo, an unarmed 38-year-old Hispanic woman, was fatally shot in an officer-involved shooting while a passenger in a vehicle during a traffic stop in Amarillo, Texas. Police said the license plate on the suspect vehicle did not match the vehicle that it was on. According to the Amarillo Police Department, Andrew Scott Norton, 32, pointed a gun at officers after exiting the vehicle. Seated in the front seat during the incident, Castillo was, also, struck by gunfire. He died at the scene, and she later died from her injuries. It did not result in any injuries to officers. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence Officer-Involved Shootings Involving Victims In Mental Crisis Lamoris Dejuan Speight Jr. On September 10, 2023, Lamoris Dejuan Speight Jr., a 22-year-old, unarmed Black Army reservist who was "in mental crisis," was shot and killed by a Wilson County deputy in Saratoga, N.C., after he choked another deputy almost to the point of unconsciousness, according to the sheriff's department. James Lanier On February 24, 2023, James Lanier, a 34-year-old, unarmed and naked Black man, who had a history of and had been dealing with mental health issues was fatally shot by a Wallace police officer in the parking lot of a Wallace, N.C. convenience store. According to Wallace Police Chief James "Jimmy" Crayton, Lanier attacked the officer and continued attacking even after being tased. According to Chief Crayton, Lanier's behavior was more indicative of someone under the influence of controlled substances than of someone experiencing a mental health crisis, or perhaps both. Lanier was naked and disturbing customers at the time, the store owner said at the time of the incident. According to District Attorney Ernie Lee, Wallace Police Department officers responded. Video surveillance shows Lanier pushing the officer and refusing to back off despite repeated requests. The officer tased Lanier, but it appeared to have no impact on him. A way to engage with persons with a history of mental illness, which does not result in death, must exist. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence Combatting Dehumanizing Language Law enforcement refers to victims as "subjects" involved in the incidents. Language like this dehumanizes the victim because it denies their humanness and portrays them as unthinking brutes or unfeeling machines. Good intentions don't blunt the impact of dehumanizing words or or make the language any less damaging. There needs to be an intentional re-training of police officers to model the use of people-first language to combat dehumanization. After all, we are all human beings human beings capable of deserving, suffering, and understanding the harm done to us. Call for Transformation to Policing One of the most dangerous things is for a police force is to lose the trust of its community. Police shootings, as well as other forms of police brutality, do untold damage to these already fragile relationships. The public must demand a transformation to policing. One that holds officers in the highest regard for the sanctity of human life, dignity, and people's liberty. Only in extreme circumstances and when all less-lethal means have failed, should officers apply deadly force. Communities torn apart by distrust, gun violence, overpolicing, and underprotection have a clear path forward. When police departments focus on building trust and concentrating their efforts around violence prevention, both law enforcement officers and community members are safer. We must rebuild community trust and refocus law enforcement efforts around just, effective, and proactive responses to community violence. DOWNLOAD THE URBT NEWS APP Police Violence is Gun Violence. Read the full article

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Home › Civil Rights & Social Justice › Race Matters

The Trauma Of Filming A Black Person Being Killed By The Police

Often forgotten in these far too common acts of police violence and fatal police-civilian encounters, involving unarmed Black people, is the dangerous, emotional and traumatic labor of bearing witness.

Written By Constantine Gidaris

Posted April 22, 2022

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Patrick Lyoya is shown on bodycam video shortly before an unidentified police officer shot him in the back of his head in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 4, 2022. | Source: City of Grand Rapids / City of Grand Rapids

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner’s murder by NYPD officers was captured by Ramsey Orta on his mobile phone camera. Choked, handcuffed and pinned face down to the ground, Garner’s repeated calls for help, encapsulated by the phrase “I can’t breathe,” were ignored by the arresting officers.

Nearly six years later, the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officers was recorded by Darnella Frazier, a young Black woman who captured the final moments of Floyd’s life on her mobile phone. Her video shows Floyd handcuffed with his head pinned underneath the knee of a police officer, repeatedly yelling, “I can’t breathe.”

Like Orta’s video, the footage that Frazier uploaded to Facebook has since gone viral. Used by many media outlets, Frazier’s video has led to public outrage and ongoing mass protests. It also assisted in the decision to fire the four arresting police officers, and to subsequently charge one with second-degree murder and the other three with aiding and abetting.

Bearing direct and indirect witness to trauma

Often forgotten in these far too common acts of police violence and fatal police-civilian encounters, involving unarmed Black people, is the dangerous, emotional and traumatic labor of bearing witness.

Following Garner’s death, Orta’s life took a drastic turn for the worse. From 2014 to 2016, Orta was arrested three times for a series of charges, which activists maintain stem from retaliatory set-ups by the NYPD for filming the video. Despite providing the footage that served as the catalyst for the “I can’t breathe” slogan and movement, Orta remains incarcerated to this day.

The day after Floyd’s death, Frazier returned to the scene of the killing, crying and emotionally distraught. In a video that has been viewed nearly 2.5 million times, Frazier pleads, “They killed this man. And I was right there! I was like five feet away! It is so traumatizing.”

If the emotional and traumatic consequences of bearing witness to Floyd’s killing were not enough, Frazier has also encountered online harassment for recording and posting the video. In the comments section of the video Frazier uploaded to Facebook, some have chastised her for recording the footage without intervening. Frazier comes to her own defence, writing:

“I don’t expect anyone who wasn’t placed in my position to understand why and how I feel the way that I do. MIND YOU I am a minor! 17 years old, of course I’m not about to fight off a cop.”

Attempts to diminish the profound effects of bearing witness to traumatic events aim to dismiss the notion of shared trauma. As literary critic Shoshana Felman and psychoanalyst Dori Laub argue, the listener or, in this case, the viewer, becomes “a participant and co-owner of the traumatic event.” In this sense, viewing the deaths of Garner and Floyd behind a screen can be different but equally traumatic experiences for both the person recording and for the viewer.

The effects of bearing witness

Viewing race-based trauma can be particularly traumatic for Black people for whom police violence is a leading cause of death. This realization is intensified by the danger that the mere occupation of public space poses for Black lives.

In part, this stems from a refusal on behalf of white folks to recognize the extensive history of race-based policing in both the United States and in Canada. There is also a pressing need for white people to understand that policing itself is a form of harm, especially for people of colour. As writer and activist Desmond Cole reminds us, police violence committed against Black people is too often treated as a “one off.”

Some suggest that using mobile phone cameras to watch the police is a means of “prevent[ing] police violence from being used against other community members or oneself.” But given that Black men are far more likely to be killed by police than white men, bearing witness on camera as a form of cop-watching has not prevented further police violence from occurring. Instead, bearing witness involves race-based trauma that attempts to hold police accountable for the pain they have long inflicted against Black people and communities.

As writer Kia Gregory says, acts of police violence and deadly police-civilian encounters “are so pervasive, they inflict a unique harm on viewers, particularly African Americans, who see themselves and those they love in these fatal encounters.”

Patrick Lyoya’s parents Peter Lyoya (L) and Dorcas Lyoya pose for a portrait as they hold a photo of their son at their home on April 15, 2022, in Lansing, Michigan. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty

The trauma of bearing witness extends from the person experiencing, recording or witnessing violent or fatal police encounters, to those who subsequently view and witness the recording through a digital medium, and most often through social media platforms. Viewing such videos can induce stress, fear, frustration, anger and anxiety. There is medical evidence to suggest that viewing footage of race-based trauma can lead to a physical ailments, including eating and sleeping disorders, high blood pressure and heart problems.

Bearing witness to these acts of deadly police violence can be traumatizing for anyone. Keenly aware of the mental health toll that police violence and race-based trauma can take, a GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly US$500,000 for Darnella Frazier’s “peace and healing.”

For Black folks, in particular, the terrifying and everyday reality that they encounter at the hands of police is a trauma that endures long after the initial act of witnessing has occurred. It is a trauma that is relived and re-experienced not only in person but behind the screen.

Constantine Gidaris, PhD Candidate, English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

This article is republished from The Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

SEE ALSO:

In ‘Bittersweet’ Moment, Darnella Frazier Wins Pulitzer Prize Citation For Recording George Floyd’s Murder

Former Cop Turned Arizona Legislator Wants People To Get Permission Before Filming Police

136 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

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[offender42085]

Post 0275

Chad Cameron “TC” Copley, North Carolina inmate 1571408, born 1977, incarceration intake at age 41, sentenced to life

Murder

On August 7, 2016 Chad Copley fatally shot an unarmed black man, with a shotgun from inside his garage. Before the shooting Chad called 911 complaining about "thugs" in his neighborhood. There was no confrontation between Chad and the other man before the shooting. Raleigh Police arrested Chad Copley a few hours after the shooting. Chad was charged with first-degree murder. The Judge denied Chad's bail and he is being held in Wake County Jail. The Judge said, Chad Copley could receive the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.  The dead man had gone with his friend to a party two doors down from Chad Copley's house. They arrived at the house around 12:30 a.m and left soon after they arrived since someone they knew said “Bro, it ain’t no girls.” at the party.  When leaving the other man saw police and started running since they had a some marijuana on them. The friend told him to slow down and he looked back. When he looked back Chad Copley fired his shotgun and killing him.  According to Chad he went into his a garage and fired according to him a "warning shot."

2m