“Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or
unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians().”
Police brutality comes in many different forms and ways with the
clearest form being physical, the other forms include improper
use of tasers, political repression, racial profiling, police
corruption, sexual abuse, psychological intimidation, false
arrests, and verbal abuse. To better understand, for example, DJ
had a long day at work and drives to his house. He has a branch
with a few leaves on it stuck in between the windshield wipers
and the hood of his car. On his way home from work he is stopped
by a police officer who asks him for his license and
registration. Thinking this is just a quick stop DJ complies and
gives the officer what he asked for, and asks “What did I do
wrong officer?” The officer replies “Well there’s vegetation
stuck to your car and I suspect that it’s a marijuana leaf, so I
stopped you.” DJ looks at the officer in disbelief and the
officer walks back to his car. Thirty minutes later three more
cop cars filled with officers arrive on the scene making the
whole situation bigger than it is. Finally, after two and a half
hours of sitting there the officers let DJ go home. This is a
form of police brutality; the officer did stop him to see what
was on his car but calling in more officers and wasting time
wasn’t at all necessary. Despite this example, police brutality
has more of a history than what has been broadcasted into the
news the last decade or so.
Police Brutality has been around since the Industrial
Revolution when the workers were harmed physically by policemen
because they went on strike. Police brutality was at its peak
during the Civil Rights Movement where all forms of police
brutality was used to stop the protestors which included high
powered water hoses to knock the protestors down, German
Shepard’s to attack protestors, attacked the protestors with
intent to kill, tear gas, etc. Since then it has calmed down
just a little with a new generation being brought up, but the
flames of police brutality were lit up once again. When the
death of Trayvon Martin, in 2012, started to make its way across
all social media platforms and makes it way onto various news
stations that updated the people of America what was going and
what was going to happen. After that many more cases of police
brutality started to make its way onto the news and across
social media over the next few years.
There have been many victims of police brutality over the
last one hundred years, and after all this time the most common
target for the police has been African American males. Some of
the victims include Rodney King, Philando Castile, Michael
Brown, Stephon Clark, etc.
Rodney King was born on April 2, 1965 in Sacramento
California to parents Ronald and Odessa King. Rodney King was
one of the five other children his parents had together, but his
father died at the age of forty-two leaving all the children to
his wife Odessa. “At 24 years old, Rodney robbed a store that
belonged to a Korean in Monterey Park, California. He stole 200
dollars in cash and hit the owner. He was convicted and put
behind the bars for a year().”
On March 3, 1991 Rodney King and his two friends were
chased by LAPD after Rodney refused to pull over after he was
caught speeding. The high speed chased got intense as many other
police cars got involved as well as a helicopter which was also
chasing Rodney and his friends. After getting stopped they were
told to get out the car, Rodney’s friends listened and got
arrested, Rodney refuse and when he finally got out of his car
he was dragged out by officers and brutally beat Rodney King. At
the same time Rodney King was getting brutally beat George
Holiday recorded the entire incident. A few days later George
sent the video to a television station and the clip of Rodney
King getting dragged out his car and beat by police officers was
broadcasted nationally for a few days. This tape was used in the
trial that lasted three months, however “a predominantly white
jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the
violent 1992 Los Angeles riots().” Eventually Rodney King was
awarded 3.8 million in a civil trial for the injuries he
sustained from the beating. Two decades later Rodney King died
in his swimming pool on June 17, 2012 in Rialto, California he
was forty-seven at the time of his death.
Philando Castile was born July 16, 1983 in St. Louis,
Missouri. He graduated from Saint Paul Central High School in
2001 and got a job working for the Saint Paul Public School
District from 2002 until his death in 2016. ‘’Castile started
his career as a nutrition services assistant at Chelsea Heights
Elementary School and Arlington High School, both in St. Paul,
Minnesota. He then moved on to a higher position at J. J. Hill
Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul in August 2014().”
What led up to the shooting according to the article “On
July 6, 2016, Castile was pulled over as part of a traffic stop
by Officers Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser in Falcon Heights,
a suburb of St. Paul. According to officers, Castile and the
passenger allegedly resembled suspects involved in an earlier
robbery. Castile and his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, were
returning from grocery shopping earlier in the evening. He had
gotten a haircut, had dinner with his sister, Allysza, and
picked up Reynolds from his residence in St. Paul. Yanez walked
up to the side window and requested that Castile hand over his
license and proof of insurance. Castile did and told Yanez he
had a gun in his possession. Moments later Officer Yanez told
Castile not to take it out. Castile said he was not pulling out
the gun. Yanez yelled, “Don’t pull it out!” and pulled his own
gun from his holster, striking Castile seven times at point
blank range. Castile died on the scene.” The aftermath of the
shooting was live streamed on Facebook by his girlfriend and
viewed by many as she is seen in the live stream talking to the
officer who shot her boyfriend. A few days after the shooting an
attorney by the mane of John Choi requested a Prompt and
thorough investigation of the crime. After the investigation the
officer that killed Philando Castile, Yanez, was put on trial
and charged with three felonies: one count of second-degree
manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.
Yanez was acquitted of all these charges, however the City of
Saint Anthony fired him the same day. Philando Castile’s Death
sparked protest and marches which caused Interstate 94 in
between Minnesota State Highway 280 and downtown St. Paul to be
closed. Many more protests happened across the country with some
becoming violent.
Michael Brown Jr. was born in Florissant, Missouri on May
20, 1996 to parents Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. He
has struggles early on with his education, however he recovered
and graduated on time and with his class in 2014. He planned to
go to trade school right after graduating.
According to the article the events of case are as follows
“At 11:47 a.m., Wilson responded to a call about a baby with
breathing problems and drove to Glenark Drive, east of Canfield
Drive. About three minutes later and several blocks away, Brown
was recorded on camera stealing a box of Swisher cigars and
forcefully shoving a Ferguson Market clerk. Brown and his
friend, Dorian Johnson, left the market at about 11:54 a.m. At
11:53, a police dispatcher reported "stealing in progress" at
the Ferguson Market and described the suspect as a black male
wearing a white T-shirt running toward QuikTrip. The suspect was
reported as having stolen a box of Swisher cigars. At 11:57, the
dispatch described the suspect as wearing a red St. Louis
Cardinals hat, a white T-shirt, yellow socks, and khaki shorts,
and that he was accompanied by another male. At 12:00 p.m.,
Wilson reported he was back in service and radioed units 25 and
22 to ask if they needed his assistance in searching for the
suspects. Seven seconds later, an unidentified officer said the
suspects had disappeared. Wilson called for backup at 12:02,
saying "[Unit] 21. Put me on Canfield with two. And send me
another car." Initially, reports of what happened next differed
widely among sources and witnesses, particularly with regards to
whether Brown was coming towards Wilson when the shots were
actually fired. At noon on August 9, Wilson drove up to Brown
and Johnson as they were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive
and ordered them to move off the street. Wilson continued
driving past the two men, but then backed up and stopped close
to them. A struggle took place between Brown and Wilson after
the former reached through the window of the police SUV, a
Chevrolet Tahoe. Wilson's gun was fired twice during the
struggle from inside the vehicle, with one bullet hitting
Brown's right hand. Brown and Johnson fled and Johnson hid
behind a car. Wilson got out of the vehicle and pursued Brown.
At some point, Wilson fired his gun again, while facing Brown,
and hit him with at least 6 shots. Brown was unarmed and died on
the street.()” Michael Brown’s death caused fury around the
nation adding fuel to the newly found Black Lives Matter
Movement. The policeman the killed Michael Brown was put on a
trail that lasted more than three months due to the Grand Jury
not coming to a decision on the case. After the three months
were over the Grand Jury decided not to indict the police
officer.
Stephon Clark was born on August 10, 1995, he graduated
from Sacramento High School where he played football during his
time there. Not much else is known about his early life and or
life before the shooting.
According the article “Two officers fired a total of 20
shots at Clark on March 18. The officers were responding to a
911 call reporting someone breaking car windows in the 7500
block of 29th street. A Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
helicopter also responded to the 911 call. Deputies in the
helicopter reported seeing a man armed with a "tool bar" in a
nearby backyard and began directing the ground officers to that
location. Police said officers believed Clark the object was a
gun and fired, "fearing for their safety." No gun was found at
the scene. Police said the object was a cellphone. It was found
near Clark's body and taken into evidence. Each of the two
officers involved in the shooting fired 10 shots, for a total of
20 shots fired, police say. The Sacramento Police Department
released the body camera footage and helicopter footage three
days after the shooting. Video from a Sacramento Sheriff’s
Department helicopter shows Clark running from a neighbor's yard
and leaping a fence into his grandmother's property. The
deputies in the helicopter can be heard saying the “suspect” had
broken a window on the house next door and was checking out
another car in the driveway. Police body-cam videos show the
police running down the driveway after Clark and taking cover at
the rear edge of the building. "Show me your hands! Gun, gun,
gun!" one of the officers can be heard shouting just before
shots rang out. California’s attorney general and the police
department are conducting an investigation into what happened
that night.()” A summarized version of what happened to Stephon
Clark: Sacramento shooting of Stephon Clark happened on March
18, 2018. He was killed by two officers of the SPD or Sacramento
Police Department. The SPD were looking for a person breaking
windows in the area. Once they saw Clark, they deemed him to be
the suspect they were looking for. They shot him when he,
according to them, pulled out a gun and pointed it at them.
After shooting him and killing him in the process, they realized
the “gun” he pointed was a cell phone. The case is still live
and has not found a verdict, but because of this, the large
protests in Sacramento have occurred. (Side note: If you
remember viewing my outline then you know I have a lot more
information to type)