If You Hadn't Heard Of This Little Girl Either, Ask Yourself Why That Is
I don't recall seeing national outrage when this happened. I feel like these cases are too often lost, forgotten, or ignored, and that's why I am so glad J. Cole brought this little girl and her tragic story back into our consciousness. Watch it, and then read the recap below.
This video is a dramatization. Here's what happened:
At nearly 1 a.m. on May 16, 2010, on an unlit street in the East Side of Detroit, a Special Response Team (Detroit Police Department’s version of a SWAT team) raided a duplex in search of a murder suspect. A single shot was fired from an officer's submachine gun. It struck and killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones. She was 7 years old.
You have to ask yourself whether the 25-year trend of outfitting our police forces with the tools and mentality of an invading army is really worth this type of casualty.
Special thanks to the unofficial poet laureate of Detroit, Charlie LeDuff, for crucial background. If you want to fall down the rabbit hole of the American police state, Radley Balko's report is essential reading.