Colorado case: Repeated incidents of police violence against African Americans in US

After a grand jury found out that two Colorado police officers were justified in killing a black teenager, police violence against coloured people in the United States became the discussion point. De’Von Bailey, 19, was shot multiple times during foot chase by the Colorado police officers as he tried to put his hands near his waistband. Police said Bailey ran away when he was about to be searched on suspicion of an armed robbery reported in the neighbourhood. 

Family attorney accuses prosecutor of bias

The justification will not lead to any criminal charges against the police officers involved in the death of Bailey. Victim’s family attorney Mari Newman called it a result of a system designed to yield when a tainted investigation is presented by a “biased prosecutor”.

“This is precisely why we have been calling for an independent prosecutor and an independent investigation from the beginning,” said Newman.

Incident of Fruitvale station

Police violence against coloured people has been a growing matter of concern in the United States due to several incidents. In 2009, BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle killed Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old retail worker, which sparked a national conversation on police accountability. Grant was raised by his mother since his father was serving a life sentence for murder. He had also served some jail time for crimes which included dealing in party drug ecstasy. 

When Grant was on his way home from San Francisco he got into a scuffle with another passenger, identified as David Horwich. Grant and four friends were detained by BART Officer Anthony Pirone after people informed the police about the altercation. Pirone got physical while pulling Grant out of off the train and another officer, Mehserle, struggled to handcuff him. According to Mehserle’s testimony, he feared that Grant might pull a gun though he was unarmed and fired a single shot into Grant’s back.

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African America woman killed in her home

Recently, Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old African American, was shot by Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean who has been charged with murder. The police bodycam recorded the whole incident where he can be seen entering Jefferson’s back garden. Dean shined the light on the window asking to put hands up and fired a single shot. Jefferson, on the other side of the window, collapsed and died. Jefferson’s brother believes an individual doesn’t bear responsibility but the whole system has failed. According to a report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 1,943 incidents were reported in 2018 as hate crimes against anti-Black or African American. But the report doesn’t highlight the incident of police violence against African Americans.

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Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had released a report on “Police violence against afro-descendants in the United States” in March 2019. The report touched upon the aspects of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system which included racial disparities in arrests, racial disparities in access to counsel, pleas, sentencing, incarceration, and re-incarceration. The Commission noted that police killings tend to disproportionately impact young African Americans, including adolescents, who are frequently portrayed by officers and by the media as appearing “like adults” as a way to justify the use of lethal force against them.

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(With Inputs from Agencies)