Justice For All: America in Turmoil

Police brutality in America is real. And myriads of evidence have proven this fact. The most popular set of victims of this societal ill have been blacks. Being black in America accords you a set of preconceived notions, and this fuels the various expressions of racism in your everyday life. Racism, a mental prejudice that ticks at the swing of an

M-16 by a patrol police officer, stands high as the motive by which police brutality is increasingly perpetrated in

America today. And gradually, people of color are becoming an endangered species. Cases of black brutality would be explored in this article, as well as the need for reformation and justice.

George Floyd: The current global uproar by Americans for the end of systemic racism was birthed by the killing of an American black male, George Floyd. His death, facilitated by four white police officers during a supposed arrest for forgery, has been regarded as a daylight display of police brutality and racism. The viral phrase and hashtag #ICan’tBreathe is an aftermath of the glaring pinning of George’s neck on the ground by one of the police officers. The video of the scene, recorded by a black female by- stander, reveals that the white police- man’s knee was on George’s neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds. He begged for his life with the words, “Please, I can’t breathe.” The topic of his death would have been a contrasting reality if the white policeman heeded George’s plea. Instead, after suspicion of George’s death raised by bystanders, he still kept his knee a while longer on his neck.

Breonna Taylor: The case of Breonna Taylor is one that holds high in the hearts of every black American right now. Three white and plain-clothed LMPD officers executed a no-knock search warrant on Breonna’s house. Being intruders that Breonna’s boyfriend termed them to be, he engaged in a shootout spree with them in self-defense. The police officers shot over 20 times, and Breonna was hit on eight different counts.

Philando Castile: Seven bullet counts and five hits were the highlights of Castile’s demise. He was shot at close range by a Hispanic-American police officer in front of Castile’s partner, Reynolds, and her 4-year-old daughter. This graphic show of fatality and horror played out at 9:17 pm of July 6, 2016. And at 9:37 pm, 20 minutes later, Castile breathed his last. What exactly was his offense? The officer assumed Castile was reaching out for his firearm when he was not.

Alton Sterling: A day before Castile’s death, another black man went down through the hands of two white policemen. June 5, 2016, recorded the unjust death of a CD seller who had to keep a gun close by because several CD sellers had been robbed just days before. He was shot at close range. The police got a call that a man in a red shirt was threatening another man in front of a convenience store. And upon arrival, the policemen charged at a black man nearby who happened to bear arms. In an on-paper attempt to disarm Sterling of his arms, they shot him. However, the store owner made an important statement that he was “not the one (Sterling) who was causing trouble.”

Michael Brown: Six bullets to the chest of an innocent man without the chance to wear a bulletproof vest is simply a brutality. A police officer in Fergusson, Missouri, pulled Michael’s neck from outside the car window and had a short pursuit, after which he turned around in surrender. Six shots to the chest were the response Michael got.

Tamir Rice: He would have been 18 years old this year had a white police officer not shot him twice because he held a toy gun. The white policeman sent Rice to an early grave at 12 years; almost immediately he got to where Rice was – without proper interrogation. However, the caller who notified the police had reiterated that the gun-holder was a juvenile and the weapon was most likely fake.

Eric Garner: He was put in a chokehold by a white police officer for seven minutes until he lost consciousness. Still, the police officers simply turned

him over to the side and continued the chokehold despite that this use of force was banned in the state since 1993. At the eleventh count of the same lines of George Floyd - “I can’t breathe,” he passed out. And about an hour later, after the ambulance had arrived, he was announced dead. What was his offense? He was accused of selling cigarettes from the pack without tax stamps. This claim was never proven.

Trayvon Martin: He was walking

back from a convenience store to his father’s fiancée’s house when Zimmerman, a member of the local community watch tagged him as suspicious and shot at him. He was a black 17-year-old high school boy, shot in the chest because of mere suspicion.

Ahmaud Arbery: An unarmed black man who was jogging in Brunswick was accosted by two white men, a man and his son, and was fatally shot dead by these two. These two men were not arrested until 74 days after the killing. And the case was transferred to about four prosecutors who recused themselves until the governor of the state intervened.

Atatiana Koquice Jefferson: A white neighbor called a non-emergency number, reporting to the police that Atatiana’s front door was opened. They came. As she observed the police by the window, an officer shot right through it, killing her.

Oscar Grant: A fight ensued and calmed on a train in 2009, but the police were contacted before the train stopped. When the police arrived, they requested those involved in the fight. However, no one answered. The officers went on to look for “people who looked like they might have been involved in the fight.” Grant and two other African Americans were slammed against the wall. The officers kneeled on Grant’s head, while an officer, holding his groin, shot at his back. He was declared dead later that New Year morning. Sean Bell: He was killed in the morning before his wedding. His two friends, who were with him, also sustained fatal injuries. The New York police officers shot 50 times in their direction.

Freddie Gray: He was charged with possessing a knife and fell into a coma during transport in the police van. He died later in the hospital. Eyewitnesses say that unnecessary force was used on him during his arrest, and the medical reports corroborated this claim.

Kalief Browder: Browder stayed in solitary confinement for two years without trial. His parents were not allowed to post his bail. And this was because he was alleged to have stolen a backpack.

Chris Joseph and Daviri Robertson: Jefferson Police deputies shot them both during an IHop undercover drug operation. No drugs or guns were found in the car with the two of them. The deputies said no flagged were raised until the car reversed. The family sure acknowledged the fact that things didn’t add up.

Armond Jairon Brown: He had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His brother reiterated this to the police, who were ready to pounce on Brown’s house because he was armed with kitchen knives. The police called in the Kenner SWAT team, who made use of lethal force to gain entry into the house. In the name of self-defense, one of the policemen shot Brown four times, which led to his unfortunate death. Brown’s family vehemently denied this claim of self-defense as the facts before their very eyes proved otherwise.

Keeven Robinson: He is a 22-year-old black man accused of dealing drugs in Jefferson, New Orleans. Four undercover agents of Jefferson Parish police engaged in a hot chase with him, and he crashed. The officers gave an account that at the time of the arrest, they discovered he wasn’t breathing. However, the Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich said the autopsy revealed clear signs of strangulation.

Marrero Desto: Also known as Reyes, he was a local rapper in New Orleans. He died by a gunshot from the hands of one of the deputies of Jefferson parish law enforcement agents. An allegation that spurred the shot was that Reyes pointed a gun at the police officers after a shit pursuit. However, what seemed to be inconsistent in the story was how one officer would reach out for his stun gun, and the other, his actual gun, and even fired it.

These lives and many others have been taken innocently, and life-dreams punctured halfway. Protests, riots, and demonstrations have been the reactions to these killings but have been doused as fast as they rose. However, now, the much-needed revolution in the American narrative has just been heightened, fueled by the blood of those who died at the mercy of racial profiling. The death of George Floyd and the immense demand for justice make a beacon of hope shine afar off. Possibly, a better reality than racial profiling of black Americans and police brutality is hoped for in the long run.