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The world is watching. Yet police keep killing black people. The Atlanta shooting shows how broken our law enforcement system is
(about 4 hours later)
THE WORLD is watching, and yet police keep killing unarmed black people. Last week’s shooting in Atlanta reveals how broken this country’s law enforcement system remains, even as protesters across the country cry out for fixing it.THE WORLD is watching, and yet police keep killing unarmed black people. Last week’s shooting in Atlanta reveals how broken this country’s law enforcement system remains, even as protesters across the country cry out for fixing it.
Officers were dispatched Friday night to a Wendy’s in response to a complaint about a man asleep in his car in the drive-through. Less than an hour later, one of those officers had fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. “I can just go home,” Mr. Brooks offers in video of the encounter, suggesting he lock his car under supervision and walk to his sister’s house. The officers perform a sobriety test, and an altercation ensues as they attempt to handcuff him — at the end of which Mr. Brooks grabs a Taser, punches one of the police in the face and begins to flee.Officers were dispatched Friday night to a Wendy’s in response to a complaint about a man asleep in his car in the drive-through. Less than an hour later, one of those officers had fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. “I can just go home,” Mr. Brooks offers in video of the encounter, suggesting he lock his car under supervision and walk to his sister’s house. The officers perform a sobriety test, and an altercation ensues as they attempt to handcuff him — at the end of which Mr. Brooks grabs a Taser, punches one of the police in the face and begins to flee.
The struck officer pursues Mr. Brooks, pulling out his handgun; Mr. Brooks fires his Taser behind him, without any accuracy. The officer shoots the handgun at Mr. Brooks’s back — one, two, three times. “His cause of death: gunshot wounds of the back,” confirmed an investigator from the medical examiner’s office. The struck officer pursues Mr. Brooks, pulling out his handgun; Mr. Brooks fires the officer’s Taser behind him, without any accuracy. The officer shoots the handgun at Mr. Brooks’s back — one, two, three times. “His cause of death: gunshot wounds of the back,” confirmed an investigator from the medical examiner’s office.
Full coverage of the George Floyd protestsFull coverage of the George Floyd protests
Every story is different, and yet every story is the same. Sometimes it’s cigarettes sold on the street, sometimes it’s a possibly counterfeit $20 bill, sometimes it’s sleeping it off in a Wendy’s drive-through. None of these activities involve any danger to police; even cases where the subject has been drunk, or unruly, or where he has resisted arrest have posed no threat to an officer’s life — and still the subject has lost his. Mr. Brooks did hit an officer, and he did grab a stun gun. But the police had previously determined he was unarmed with any lethal weaponry. His initial violation wasn’t violent. He was running away. He ended up dead anyway. Every story is different, and yet every story is the same. Sometimes it’s cigarettes sold on the street, sometimes it’s a possibly counterfeit $20 bill, sometimes it’s sleeping it off in a Wendy’s drive-through. None of these activities involve any danger to police; even cases where the subject has been drunk, or unruly, or where he has resisted arrest have posed no threat to an officer’s life — and still the subject has lost his. Mr. Brooks did hit an officer, and he did grab a Taser. But the police had previously determined he was unarmed with any lethal weaponry. His initial violation wasn’t violent. He was running away. He ended up dead anyway.
Atlanta’s response to the homicide wasn’t marred by as much foot-dragging and defensiveness as Americans are accustomed to. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) announced on Saturday the police chief’s resignation; the officer who pulled the trigger was fired, and the other at the scene placed on administrative duty. The Fulton County district attorney is expected soon to decide whether to bring charges. So far, he has said this much: “He did not seem to present any threat to anyone. The fact that it would escalate to his death seems unreasonable.”Atlanta’s response to the homicide wasn’t marred by as much foot-dragging and defensiveness as Americans are accustomed to. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) announced on Saturday the police chief’s resignation; the officer who pulled the trigger was fired, and the other at the scene placed on administrative duty. The Fulton County district attorney is expected soon to decide whether to bring charges. So far, he has said this much: “He did not seem to present any threat to anyone. The fact that it would escalate to his death seems unreasonable.”
Unreasonable is an understatement. But surprising? Depressingly, no. The problem is bigger than chokeholds or no-knock warrants. There are plenty of officers in this country who respond with more empathy than inclination to escalate, but there are far too many who come readier to attack than to understand. The question protesters raise also remains: Are police the right ones to be responding to offenses such as these? For now, as Americans nationwide are calling for change, and as departments across the country are promising it, this scourge looks painfully and lethally familiar.Unreasonable is an understatement. But surprising? Depressingly, no. The problem is bigger than chokeholds or no-knock warrants. There are plenty of officers in this country who respond with more empathy than inclination to escalate, but there are far too many who come readier to attack than to understand. The question protesters raise also remains: Are police the right ones to be responding to offenses such as these? For now, as Americans nationwide are calling for change, and as departments across the country are promising it, this scourge looks painfully and lethally familiar.
Read more:Read more:
Osagie K. Obasogie: Police killing black people is a pandemic, tooOsagie K. Obasogie: Police killing black people is a pandemic, too
Christy E. Lopez: Defund the police? Here’s what that really means.Christy E. Lopez: Defund the police? Here’s what that really means.
E.J. Dionne: This is a moment where we can make the impossible possibleE.J. Dionne: This is a moment where we can make the impossible possible
Kevin B. Blackistone: Why I can’t watch the police videos anymoreKevin B. Blackistone: Why I can’t watch the police videos anymore
Daniel Oates: I used to be a police chief. This is why it’s so hard to fire bad cops. Daniel Oates: I used to be a police chief. This is why it’s so hard to fire bad cops.