10, April 2015
Police Misconduct
What has become an all too familiar scene, another defenseless
African-American, is gunned down by a white police officer. Without ordering an
investigation, the North Charleston Police Department rushed to defend officer
Michael Slager. But a video captured by a bystander showed Slager shot the
victim, Walter Scott, in the back and casually walked over, handcuffed the
dying man and then placed a taser next to his body in a botched effort to blame
the victim.
Scott’s killing echoes other videos of police shootings, such as Tamir Rice
in Cleveland and Eric Garner in New York City. Rice, a 12 year old boy, was
shot by a policemen two seconds after he got out of his car and then allowed to
die without any intervention by the police. When Tamir’s 14 year old sister
tried to intervene and save her brother she was arrested.
While the actions of the man who filmed the fatal shooting of Walter Scott,
is rightly lauded as a hero, the man who shot the video of the police killing
of Eric Garner, Ramsey Orta, is languishing in jail. His mother, brother, and
wife have also been arrested. Supporters have accused the New York City Police
department of pure harassment – punishment for releasing the video. Bystanders
should be rewarded for exposing police misconduct not punished. There is a deep
racial malaise gripping the nation’s police departments and unless swift action
is taken we can only expect more of the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment