Killed by Police Under Questionable Circumstances

Rage against the Dying…of Black Men and Women

The Black men and women on this list died by circumstances which should make their deaths suspect, should have resulted in some form of indictment or action against the police. In almost every case, little was done to investigate their deaths or they were covered up by the system. Does this make the system inherently corrupt? Not for me to say. What I will say is of the cases I have followed personally, there were enough inconsistencies which should have lead to arrests, loss of jobs, and trials which should have resulted in jail time. In most cases, that is not what happened.

For the record, this list is by no means complete or exhaustive. The US government does not keep track of Black people killed by police and when they do, the circumstances of being shot may mitigate the list or change the circumstances so the police are not even questioned about that particular shooting. Take that statement to mean, it is possible for even more Black people to have been killed under less than ideal circumstances and we are none the wiser since paperwork can hide a multitude of sins…

I will eventually link information for each person, as I can find information regarding the case and the ultimate results. I am certain this list will grow…

2014: Rumain Brisbon (Phoenix, AZ) – Shot after conflict with officer, unarmed, pending investigation

2014: Tamir Rice (Cleveland, OH) – video; pending investigation

2014: Akai Gurley (Brooklyn, NY) – The city’s medical examiner ruled Gurley’s death a homicide. Pending investigation.

2014: Victor White III (Iberia Parish, LA)
2014: Dante Parker (San Bernardino County, CA)
2014: Kaijeme Powell (St. Louis, MO)
2014: Ezell Ford (Los Angeles, CA)
2014: Michael Brown (Ferguson, MO)
2014: McKenzie Cochran (Southfield, MI)
2014: Tyree Woodson (Baltimore, MD)
2014: John Crawford III (Beavercreek, OH)

2014: Dontre Hamilton (Milwaukee, WI) – Seven months after the shooting, the District Attorney’s Office has said that it is still determining whether or not to charge Manney.

2014: Eric Garner (New York, NY)
2014: Yvette Smith (Bastrop, TX)
2014: Jordan Baker (Houston, TX)
2013: Kayla Moore (Berkeley, CA)
2013: Barrington Williams (New York, NY)
2013: Andy Lopez (Santa Rosa, CA)
2013: Carlos Alcis (New York, NY)
2013: Deion Fludd (New York, NY)
2013: Jonathan Ferrell (Bradfield Farms, NC)
2013: Kimani Gray (New York, NY)
2013: Kyam Livingstone (New York, NY)
2013: Larry Eugene Jackson, Jr. (Austin, TX)
2013: Miriam Carey (Washington, DC)
2012: Chavis Carter (Jonesboro, AR)
2012: Dante Price (Dayton, OH)
2012: Duane Brown (New York, NY)
2012: Ervin Jefferson (Atlanta, GA)
2012: Jersey Green (Aurora, IL)
2012: Johnnnie Kamahi Warren (Dotham, AL)
2012: Justin Slipp (New Orleans, LA)
2012: Kendrec McDade (Pasadena, CA)
2012: Malissa Williams (Cleveland, OH)
2012: Nehemiah Dillard (Gainesville, FL)
2012: Ramarley Graham (New York, NY)
2012: Raymond Allen (Galveston, TX)
2012: Rekia Boyd (Chicago, IL)
2012: Reynaldo Cuevas (New York, NY)
2012: Robert Dumas Jr (Cleveland, OH)
2012: Sgt. Manuel Loggins Jr (Orange County, CA)
2012: Shantel Davis (New York, NY)
2012: Sharmel Edwards (Las Vegas, NV)
2012: Shereese Francis (New York, NY)
2012: Tamon Robinson (New York, NY)
2012: Timothy Russell (Cleveland, OH)
2012: Wendell Allen (New Orleans, LA)
2011: Alonzo Ashley (Denver, CO)
2011: Jimmell Cannon (Chicago, IL)
2011: Kenneth Chamberlain (White Plains, NY)

2011: Bernard Bailey (Orangeburg County, SC) – In 2014, the former police chief has been charged with murder in the death of an unarmed black man shot four years ago. Bail set at $150,000.

2011: Kenneth Harding (San Francisco, CA) – On June 16, Kenneth Harding, a convicted pimp wanted in Seattle as a person of interest in the slaying of a 19-year old woman, fled from police at a Muni stop in Bayview after being stopped for fare evasion. According to police, Harding then began shooting at officers, who then returned fire. Harding was fatally shot in the attack.

2011: Raheim Brown (Oakland, CA) – Raheim Brown was shot twice, then moments later five times more in his car by OUSD Officer Barhin Bhatt in 2011. Not indicted due to lack of evidence.

2011: Reginald Doucet (Los Angeles, CA)
2010: Aaron Campbell (Portland, OR)
2010: Aiyana Jones (Detroit, MI)
2010: Danroy Henry (Thornwood, NY)
2010: Derrick Jones (Oakland, CA)
2010: Steven Eugene Washington (Los Angeles, CA)
2009: Kiwane Carrington (Champaign, IL)
2009: Oscar Grant (Oakland, CA)
2009: Shem Walker (New York, NY)
2009: Victor Steen (Pensacola, FL)
2008: Tarika Wilson (Lima, OH)
2007: DeAunta Terrel Farrow (West Memphis, AR)

2006: Sean Bell (New York, NY) – The five officers involved in the shooting were found not guilty in a judge trial, but the city settled a civil suit with the Bell family for $3.25 million.

2005: Henry Glover (New Orleans, LA)
2005: James Brisette (New Orleans, LA)
2005: Ronald Madison (New Orleans, LA)
2004: Timothy Stansbury (New York, NY)
2003: Alberta Spruill (New York, NY)
2003: Orlando Barlow (Las Vegas, NV)
2003: Ousmane Zongo (New York, NY)
2001: Timothy Thomas (Cincinnati, OH)
2000: Earl Murray (Dellwood, MO)
2000: Malcolm Ferguson (New York, NY)
2000: Patrick Dorismond (New York, NY)
2000: Prince Jones (Fairfax County, VA)
2000: Ronald Beasley (Dellwood, MO)

1999: Amadou Diallo (New York, NY) – All four officers were charged with second-degree murder and acquitted at trial in Albany, New York.

Thanks, Spo Da Chozn-one for the list.

 

Charles Ramsey is a hero, but not just for the reasons you think

The house where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight were held for ten years. –AP

Charles Ramsey Interview, rescuer of Amanda Berry, a missing Cleveland woman

1:22 Seconds into video

Ramsey: “About five minutes after the police got here, the girl Amanda told the police ‘I ain’t the only one, there some more girls up in that house.’ So they go up there, thirty, forty deep and when they came out, (it) was just astonishing. I thought they were gone come up with nothing. I figured, I mean, whoever she was and like I said, my neighbor; you’ve got some big testicles to pull this off, bro.”

Ramsey: Cause we see this dude, everyday! I mean, everyday!

Reporter: How long has he lived here?

Ramsey: “I’ve been here a year. You see where I’m coming from? I barbequed with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music, you see where I’m coming from?

Reporter: And you had no indication there was anything wrong?

Ramsey: Not a, bro, not a clue that that girl was in that house or anybody else was in that house against their will because how he is, he just comes out to his backyard, plays with the dogs, tinker with his cars and motorcycles and goes back in the house. So he’s somebody you look and then you look away because he’s not doing nothing but the average stuff. There’s nothing exciting about him. Well. Until today. (nervous laugh)

Reporter: What was the reaction on the girls faces, I can’t imagine, to see the sunlight, to be around people?

Ramsey: Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a Black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway. Dead giveaway.

Reporter: Charles Ramsey, thank you very much.

 Cultural Insensitivity

When I first started hearing about this story, I did my patrol of the news articles and discovered a disturbing trend. So many people (a large number of them men) kept saying “Why didn’t they leave? Why didn’t they escape? Why didn’t three women overpower this one man?”

I found those statements to be galling and frustrating. As we would later find out, there were three men involved. The door was blockaded and barely able to be opened as Mr. Ramsey attested and the police used a large number of officers to break into the place to rescue the women successfully. There were also statements indicating the men proposed violence to the young women when they were still very impressionable. They were said to have told the girls “I took you from your home, I can go back there and harm your family any time I like. If you leave, I will do that.”

With such a threat hanging over their heads and without any knowledge of how they were physically constrained at the time, how could any compassionate individual make the statement WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST ESCAPE?

I started my transcript at the 1:22 mark because of the statements Mr. Ramsey made I found to be the most telling about this incident.

“We see this dude, everyday!” At least one of the suspects made no attempts to hide. He interacted with the neighborhood, he shopped, he was seen in the yard, he liked his dogs, his cars, barbeques and salsa music. This is the nature of their pathology. They were completely able to blend into the neighborhood looking just like anyone else. The boldness of his actions meant he had no expectations of ever being caught and for ten years or three thousand, six hundred and sixty five days (at least) three women lived in daily terror of their lives.

I mention this because I have been studying human trafficking and believe there is more of it taking place than we are ever truly aware of. This case is a perfect example of an abduction which left no clues long enough for the children who were abducted to be declared dead and the case considered cold if not completely closed.

Our nationwide lack of compassion toward children/women, hell anyone, who has been abducted and held against their will is poisoned by the idea that people will escape their captors, in a fashion similar to depictions in Hollywood. Bold, daring and completely self actualized, these characters find a way to foil their captors and return to their lives, barely changed by the event.

The truth is far more terrible. They are stolen as children, prevented from reaching a sense of agency, a sense of purpose, they are abused, misused, psychologically mutilated, bereft of identity and left in conditions often worse than if they were fending for themselves on the streets. These are not the heroes of cinema, they are the victims of a nightmare which for many have gone on so long, they have little hope of escape. And if their captors are competent, any will to escape is eroded by abuse, drug addition, torture and examples of what may happen if you try to escape. These victims are psychologically broken, often unable to escape unless a clear opportunity presents itself.

We, as a nation, need to be more aware of the nature of human trafficking, more aware of its effects on our society, our way of life and on the victims of it. They are victims, questioning their willingness to escape is the same as empowering the idea they should have been snatched from their lives and turned into slaves in the first place.

No doubt, more of this sorrid and terrible tale will be made available and as it is, it will be up to us to decide how we want to be involved in the reduction of human trafficking in our neighborhoods. Yes, no matter where you live, this insidious monster could be living right next door to YOU. And you have no idea of it.

Yes, Charles Ramsey is a hero. But not for the reasons you think. His greatest contribution to this conversation is to point out the temerity and boldness with which such monstrous behavior wanders invisibly into and out of our lives. That is the second greatest gift he could give to all of us.

He is an everyday hero who stepped up when he could have gone back into his home and never given it a second thought. Personally, I am so glad he didn’t turn away. There is too much of that going on already in this nation. Well done, sir, well done.