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police brutality

Democracy

The toddler in this 'sweet' viral photo is actually the victim of a police brutality case

@seldo/Twitter

The subject of police brutality has been part of public discourse for years, and since the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum after the murder of George Floyd, it's been under a particularly bright spotlight. But even with ample examples we can point to, sometimes a story still manages to stun with its horrifying blatancy. This is one of those times.

The headline here is that the city of Philadelphia was just ordered to pay a Black mother $2 million in damages for the beating she endured and trauma she and her 2-year-old experienced at the hands of the Philadelphia police in October of 2020. But there's so much more to the story than that.

Here's the background:

According to NBC10 Philadelphia, nursing aide Rickia Young was driving home in the early morning hours of Oct. 27, 2020, after picking up her 16-year-old nephew in West Philadelphia, when she unintentionally drove into a protest over the police killing of Walter Wallace, Jr. (Wallace was shot and killed by police after his family called 911 because he was having a mental health episode and they wanted him to get medical help.)

The police ordered Young to turn back, but as she started to do a 3-point turn, police swarmed her car and smashed her windows out with batons. According to Young's attorney, police pulled Young and her nephew from the car and struck them. Then police pulled Young's 2-year-old from the car and took him away, telling her they were taking him "to a better place."

Young was bleeding and had swelling on her face, body, and trachea. She was able to call her mother, who went to find the 2-year-old. She eventually found him in the back of a police car four miles away, without his hearing aids and with glass shards in his carseat.

So we can agree that's all bad, right? Well, here's where it goes even farther south.

Two days after the incident, the National Fraternal Order of Police—the largest police union in the U.S.—shared a photo of one of the police officers at the scene, holding Young's son, with the following text:

"This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness. The only thing this Philadelphia Police Officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child.

We are not your enemy. We are the Thin Blue Line. And WE ARE the only thing standing between Order and Anarchy."

The irony would be hilarious if it weren't so horrifying.

The post was taken down within a day, but not before it had been shared widely. The following day, the police union wrote that the union "learned of conflicting accounts of the circumstances under which the child came to be assisted by the officer and immediately took the photo and caption down."

No apology. No mention of what had really occurred. No acknowledgment of the trauma that boy had endured watching the police smash the windows of his car before beating his mother in front of him.

According to NBC10, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that she and the law enforcement community "demand that officers exhibit the utmost professionalism, decorum, and poise while interacting with members of the public." Two officers were ultimately fired over the incident, and 14 additional officers faced disciplinary hearings.

"The behavior that occurred during the interaction between Rickia Young, her nephew, her son, and some of the officers on the scene violated the mission of the Philadelphia Police Department," Outlaw said in a statement. "As a matter of fact, the ability for officers and supervisors on the scene to diffuse the situation was abandoned, and instead of fighting crime and the fear of crime, some of the officers on the scene created an environment that terrorized Rickia Young, her family, and other members of the public."

Hence, the $2 million payment from the city.

Philadelphia Reaches $2M Settlement With, Rickia Young, Mother Who Was Beaten By Police During Unreswww.youtube.com

The Philadelphia Inquirer shared a detailed account of what occurred that night, and it's worth a read. Again, the blatancy of the brutality and injustice alone is enough, but to have the photo of Young's son that night used as pro-police fodder by the nation's largest police union just added insult to literal injury. And the response from the union was pretty much the definition of "inadequate."

No one can undo what Young and her son experienced, but the firing of the officers and the payout from the city is at least something resembling accountability.

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Well Being

Elijah McClain's mom releases a powerful statement on police wrongdoing in her son's death

Denver7News/Twitter

Elijah McClain was a kind, unique, and gentle soul, according to those who knew him. He was a vegetarian and a pacifist who worked as a massage therapist. He played his violin for shelter kittens during his lunch break because he thought the animals were lonely.

One evening two summers ago, McClain was walking home from a convenience store, waving his arms to music he was listening to on his headphones, when Aurora police approached him after getting a call about a "suspicious" man in the area. McClain was wearing a ski/runner's mask, which his sister said he often did because he tended to get cold easily. Police tackled him to the ground and held him in a carotid hold—a restraint technique banned in some cities for its potential danger. He was given a shot of ketamine by paramedics. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital and died there three days later.

He was a 23-year-old Black man. He was unarmed. He wasn't a suspect in any crime. And his last words to the police were absolutely devastating.

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The Aurora Police Department's own investigation into the incident found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved—a determination that caused an outcry for justice in light of the body camera evidence. Millions of people signed a Change.org petition demanding a more in-depth investigation.

The city did launch an independent investigation last July, and the results have been released. You can read the full report here, but the gist of the findings is that the police had no legal basis to stop, frisk, or place McClain in a chokehold to begin with. The ketamine dose administered by paramedics was also based on a gross overestimate of McClain's size. (He was given a dose for a 190-pound person, when he actually weighed around 140.)

Investigators also found that the investigation done by the police department's Major Crimes Unit was deeply flawed, failing to ask even basic investigative questions of the officers involved.

"It is hard to imagine any other persons involved in a fatal incident being interviewed as these officers were," investigators wrote.

"The body worn camera audio, limited video, and Major Crime's interviews with the officers tell two contrasting stories," the report states. "The officers' statements on the scene and in subsequent recorded interviews suggest a violent and relentless struggle. The limited video, and the audio from the body worn cameras, reveal Mr. McClain surrounded by officers, all larger than he, crying out in pain, apologizing, explaining himself, and pleading with the officers."

One of the officers involved in McClain's, Jason Rosenblatt, was fired in July for replying "haha" to a text containing photos three other officers took, mockingly reanacting the chokehold at the site of McClain's memorial. Interim police chief Vanessa Williams called the text exchange "a crime against humanity and decency."

McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, released a statement through her attorney in light of the investigation's findings, noting that Elijah would be turning 25 in three says and saying she is "relieved that the truth surrounding the death of her son is finally coming to light."

"The independent investigation that was commissioned and paid for by Aurora makes clear what was already known," the statement reads. "Elijah should never have been stopped by the police, never have been arrested, never have been subjected to extreme force by the police and should never have been forcibly injected with ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics. Aurora is responsible for Elijah's tragic death by virtue of its employees' unlawful and unconscionable actions."

"We applaud the independent review panel's objective, studious, and comprehensive investigation into the events of August 24, 2019. At every step of the way -- from their initial stop of Elijah through the involuntary injection of an extremely dangerous drug for no medical reason -- Aurora officials indisputably violated Mr. McClain's constitutional rights."

After detailing some of the reports specific findings, the statement makes the point that investigators came to their conclusions using the information and evidence the department always had.

"Notably, this Report – with its stark and unequivocal indictment of Aurora officials' conduct – is not based on new, revelatory evidence," it reads. "It is based on evidence that Aurora has had in its possession all along. Yet, at every stage, Aurora has defended its officials for their blatantly unlawful actions and refused to discipline anyone involved in Elijah's death."

The statement also describes the "sham investigation" the police conducted "in order to exonerate its employees and hide their wrongdoing."

Sheneen McClain wants Aurora to hold its employees accountable. "The Aurora officials who contributed to Elijah's death must be immediately terminated," the statement reads. "Ms. McClain continues to call for the criminal prosecution of those responsible for Elijah's death. Elijah committed no crime on the day of his death, but those who are responsible for Elijah's death certainly did."

Ms. McClain's statement also acknowledges that Elijah's wrongful death at the hands of police is part of a larger story.

"Elijah's family recognizes that Elijah is but one person on an ever-growing list of unarmed victims of police-related killings," it states. "The problem of police abuse continues to plague minority communities throughout the country. This case is a textbook example of law enforcement's disparate and racist treatment of Black men. Aurora's continued failure to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its employees only exacerbates the problem."

Finally, a quote from Sheneen McClain sums it all up.

"Elijah believed in humanity and that humanity mattered," she said. "Inhumane humans are a problem and we must stop unjust laws."

Let's hope this independent investigation leads to justice and real change.

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Heroes

20-yr-old KJ Brooks named and shamed every official at a Kansas City police commissioner meeting

@Seytoven/Twitter

After years of advocating for racial justice and calling out police brutality and seeing little change in law enforcement and our justice system, some people are rightfully fed up. When complaints are met with inaction, protests are met with inaction, and direct action is met with inaction, maybe it's time to get specific in who needs to be held accountable for issues in law enforcement.

That's exactly what Keiajah (KJ) Brooks did at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting in her hometown of Kansas City this week. The 20-year-old used her approximately four minutes with the microphone—and with the commissioners' undivided attention—to unequivocally lay out her position to each and every one of the officials in that room.

"Fair warning, I'm not nice and I don't seek to be respectable," she began. "I'm not asking y'all for anything because y'all can't and won't be both my savior and my oppressor. I don't want reform. I want to turn this building into luxury low-cost housing. These would make some really nice apartments."

"Firstly, stop using Black children as photo opportunities, 'cause they're cute now, but in 10 years, they're Black male suspects in red shirts and khaki shorts," she said. "Eating cookies and drinking milk with children does not absolve you of your complicity in their oppression and denigration..." she added, before looking directly at the police chief and pointedly calling him out by name, "...Rick Smith."

She pointed out that Kansas City spends more on the police than on education, "and then try to encourage children to feast with their oppressors."

"Y'all are really weird," she added.

"It's asinine to be called radical or a homegrown terrorist for not wanting government employees to kill people in any instance," she went on. "So, I'm not here begging anything of soulless white folks and self-preserving Black folks. You get one life, and you all in this room have chosen profits over people. And that's pathetic. So, I'm going to spend the next two minutes reading y'all for filth, something I'm sure nobody has ever done."

And that's exactly what she did. One by one, Ms. Brooks named and shamed each member of the Board of Police Commissioners, in a dragging for the ages.

She addressed the "former FBI Agent who exudes white privilege and is the epitome of mediocrity" who "spent most of this meeting looking away and holding his head in his hands." She called out "another rich, and white, and out of touch, and disconnected old white person with nothing but pure apathy seeping through the bulging veins of his paper colored skin," adding, "You age like trash when you are racist and subject others to violence." She even took a pastor who preaches "a message of hope and faith through God's Holy word in the building" while "subjecting Black people to terrorism and un-Christ-like behavior at the hands of KCPD outside of the building" to church.

Ms. Brooks did not come to play.

Finally, to Police Chief Rick Smith, Brooks said, "I don't even care enough about you to start, but you will have to spend overtime in a chapel at the end of your life. You have blood on your hands, and while these idiots hold you on a pedestal, God does not honor injustice and murder."

After she finished with the individual verbal takedowns, Brooks left the board—whom she referred to as "soulless, profit-driven, avaricious, greedy, God-forsaken humans"—with a Bible verse. Claiming that Jesus himself was an "unarmed Black man murdered by authorities," she quoted Mark 8:36: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

Well then.

Whether you agree with everything Ms. Brooks said or not, it takes a great deal of courage to speak truth to power. It's impressive to see a young woman speak her mind so clearly and boldly, not just publicly, but to the faces of the people she's addressing. Ms. Brooks has obviously done her homework on the individuals she's calling out, and while her speech may come across as harsh to some, her passion for and dedication to justice is palpable.

A video shared on Brooks' Instagram shows the reactions of the commissioners as she was speaking, if you want to see it from another angle.

The video of her speech has been viewed more than seven million times on social media and has been met with resounding virtual applause from people who are tired of seeing calls for justice and action met with continuing injustice and inaction.

You can't change what you don't acknowledge, and Ms. Brooks is making sure acknowledgement is crystal clear.

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Democracy

The officer who killed Jonathan Price has been arrested and charged with murder

UPDATE: Police have arrested Shaun David Lucas, the Wolfe City, Texas police officer who shot and killed Jonathan Price last Saturday. Lucas was formally charged with murder and his bail was set at $1 million.

"This is the first step. This man is dangerous and should not be out on bond. The family was relieved to hear of his arrest and are looking forward to his conviction," Dallas attorney Lee Merritt said in a story first reported by CBS.

The killing of Price has been particularly shocking, considering that just four months ago he publicly defended the police, saying there was no conceivable reason that he should fear for his life. According to CBS, Price had been described by those in his community as a "hometown hero," and a "standup guy."

The original story begins below.


Four months ago, Jonathan Price wrote a post to Facebook explaining how he'd always had positive interactions with white police officers in and around his hometown of Wolfe City, Texas, and urged people to look at their own experiences to make judgments. On Saturday night, he was shot and killed by one of those officers.

Witnesses say the 31-year-old personal trainer intervened when a fight broke out between a couple at a gas station convenience store. When the altercation spilled outside into the parking lot, police arrived at the scene and one of them shot and killed Price. The officer who shot him has been placed on paid administrative leave, and Texas Rangers are investigating the killing that has rocked the town of 1500.

According to interviews with people who knew him, Price was loved by everyone and a "pillar in the community." Price's mother, Marcella Louis, said she went to the gas station when she heard her son had been shot. They wouldn't let her hold his hand. "They took my son from me," Louis told ABC affiliate WFAA in tears. "They took my baby."

Former third baseman for the Boston Red Sox, Will Middlebrooks, was a childhood friend of Price. He expressed his grief in news interviews and in a post on Facebook, writing, "This was purely an act of racism. Period. So, for all of you that think this is all bullshit, you need to check yourselves." In an interview with WFAA, he also urged calm in the town as those who knew and loved Price sought justice.

"What's really sickening is that he was doing the right thing..." Middleton told WFAA. "He saw a man putting his hands on a woman and stepped in to stop the altercation. The man then fought him... then the police shot him. He was unarmed. I'm heartbroken."

Price's mother told WFAA she had taught him to be helpful. "He had a good heart. He always tried to help others. I taught him that all through the years," Louis said.

Price had other mentors who had taught him the same thing. He had been an active athlete and his high school football coach, Dale Trompler, told WFAA that he had preached to Price to always do the right thing. "I never thought that doing so would cost him his life," he said.

Middlebrooks created a GoFundMe to cover funeral and memorial expenses, which has already exceeded its $50,000 goal.

As of now, there are more questions than answers about the officer who killed Price and the details about exactly what prompted the shooting. But we do know that a town has lost a beloved community member and family member, and a Black man who harbored no ill will towards the police, and who was trying to help put a stop to violence, was killed by someone who was supposed to serve and protect.

This is why people across the country and around the world keep saying it and hoping it will sink in. Black. Lives. Matter.

Learn more about Jonathan Price from his friends and family here:

Who was Jonathan Price? Family, friends describe beloved man killed in police shootingwww.youtube.com

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