By Brandi Miller
On March 18, Stephon Clark was killed in his backyard when Sacramento police shot him eight times, firing 20 rounds in five seconds. A few days afterward, footage from the police helicopter and body camera was released, revealing that Clark was unarmed and that police shot him while his back was turned.
I didn’t watch it.
With increased access to phone videos, surveillance cameras and body cam footage, there has also been an increased availability of these videos documenting the killings of black people. The list of names ― the list of lives we’ve watched ended on video ― would take up this entire column.
For a long time, I watched every video ― some because I chose to and some because social media autoplay features are unforgiving. I watched police choke Eric Garner to death. I watched police pin and shoot Alton Sterling at close range. I watched police shoot John Crawford in a Walmart while he was on the phone. I watched police kill Philando Castile in front of his girlfriend and 4-year-old daughter. I watched police shoot 12-year-old Tamir Rice immediately after arriving on the scene.
From the moment each story broke, a predictable pattern played out. The police would release their narrative, the officer would be placed on administrative leave and people would begin to protest an extrajudicial killing.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment