Before New Year’s day in 2009, a black man name Oscar Grant was killed by a officer name Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Mehserle and several other officers responded to a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit. The officers caught Grant and his friends from the train. While Grant was lying face down, Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant. Because Mehserle was unable to remove Grant’s arm from under his body in order to handcuff him, Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant once in the back. During this incident, many people recorded what was happening up until Grant, who was unarmed, was shot. Officer Mehserle resigned from his position and pleaded not guilty during an investigation into the shooting. Later that year, Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. This case shows that the officer had no reason to kill Grant; he only shot him because he was unable to remove his arm to be handcuffed.
In the year of 2014 , an African American boy named Tamir Rice was shot by a police officer. Two officers on November 22,2014 named Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback responded to a call that a young black boy was sitting on a swing and pointing a gun at people. However, the call also stated that the “gun” might have been fake and believed that Rice might be a juvenile that is doing this. When both officers arrived on the scene, Loehmann claimed that he saw a black gun on the table and the young boy put it in his waistband. Both officers told Rice to put his hands up, but they both stated that Rice reached into his waistband and pulled out the gun. Due to this observation by the officers, Loehmann began to shoot. Later, a video was released and in the video you can see that Rice wasn’t threatening the officers verbally or physically. Loehmann started to shoot as soon as he arrived on the scene. The gun that they stated Rice had was a Airsoft,which is known to be an air gun which was designed to shoot non-lethal plastic pellets and has a safety tip on it. Loehmann shot Rice in the torso. Rice had injuries in his major vessels, intestines, and the pelvis. In this case, both of the officers were placed on leave with pay, but the grand jury decided to dismiss all the charges against each officer.
In the year 2015, Freddie Gray, Jr. was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possessing what the police thought was an illegal switchblade. While Gray was being transported in a police van, he fell into a coma, and later died. When the doctor described Gray’s death, he stated that there were injuries to his spinal cord. During this, witnesses to this interaction were recording the whole event. The video showed Gray screaming as the officers were dragging him to the police van. Those witnessing Gray’s arrest saw one officer bending Gray’s legs backwards, and another holding him down with the officer’s knee pressing into Gray’s neck. Each of the officers who were involved in this case were not charged with his death. This made the African American community protest until the verdict changed because the evidence showed a video and that the van that held Gray stopped three times before taking him to the hospital, plus you even had two witnesses stating that they saw what the officer was doing to him and the only consequences they got was suspension with pay.
Philando Castile was shot by officer Jeronimo Yanez on July 6, 2016. Castile was driving in the car with his girlfriend Diamond Reynold and her daughter when being asked to pull over. When officer Yanez asked for Castile license and registration, Castile told the officer that he have licensed to carry a weapon that was in his pocket during the time. Castile was shot seven time while reaching for his ID after telling officer Yanez he had a gun permit and was armed. Castile girlfriend Reynold recorded the incident and put it online. Yanez was being charged with three felonies. In this case justice was served with the officer being charged for a crime that he did with evidence including a video that surface the air immediately right after it happen.
1.“Centuries of Rage: The Murder of Oscar Grant III.” San Francisco Bay View. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016Nov. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
2.Ellis, Ralph. “Officer Charged with Manslaughter in Philando Castile Killing.” CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
3.News, BBC. “Freddie Gray’s Death in Police Custody – What We Know.” BBC News. N.p., 23 May 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
Rowan Counterintuitive 