Post by Admin on Apr 20, 2021 21:00:41 GMT
Over a thousand people took to the streets of Chicago on Friday evening, marching for police reform. They were protesting the killing of Adam Toledo, 13, by a police officer in the early morning hours of March 29.
In a graphic video of the shooting that was released on Thursday, Adam is chased down a dark alley by Officer Eric Stillman, who orders him to stop, show his hands and "drop it". Some outlets, such as The New York Times, have analyzed the video and say the boy appears to toss a handgun over the fence before raising his hands. Less than a second later, Stillman fatally shoots the seventh-grader in the chest. The officer has been placed on a 30-day administrative leave.
While many questions remain, much of what we know so far is unacceptable. Before video and audio footage of the encounter was released by the independent Civilian Office of Police Accountability, city officials changed their versions of what happened several times.
There has been a disproportionate focus on the circumstances surrounding the shooting, rather than on the fact that a police officer killed an unarmed child. Sadly, this kind of violence is familiar to Latino communities -- and that should disturb all Americans.
On Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged people to "reserve judgment" because "we don't have enough information to be the judge and jury of this particular situation ... Let's wait until we hear all the facts."
If only she and the Chicago Police Department had shown such restraint in their own initial characterizations of the tragedy.
On March 29, a police spokesman described it as an "armed confrontation." On April 5, Lightfoot stated that Adam "was in possession of a gun." According to USA Today's reporting, Lightfoot hadn't seen bodycam footage by that point. On April 10, a prosecutor said that Adam was holding a gun when he was shot. Such statements contributed to a false narrative that Adam was somehow a dangerous criminal. But they are not supported by the video footage.
In a graphic video of the shooting that was released on Thursday, Adam is chased down a dark alley by Officer Eric Stillman, who orders him to stop, show his hands and "drop it". Some outlets, such as The New York Times, have analyzed the video and say the boy appears to toss a handgun over the fence before raising his hands. Less than a second later, Stillman fatally shoots the seventh-grader in the chest. The officer has been placed on a 30-day administrative leave.
While many questions remain, much of what we know so far is unacceptable. Before video and audio footage of the encounter was released by the independent Civilian Office of Police Accountability, city officials changed their versions of what happened several times.
There has been a disproportionate focus on the circumstances surrounding the shooting, rather than on the fact that a police officer killed an unarmed child. Sadly, this kind of violence is familiar to Latino communities -- and that should disturb all Americans.
On Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged people to "reserve judgment" because "we don't have enough information to be the judge and jury of this particular situation ... Let's wait until we hear all the facts."
If only she and the Chicago Police Department had shown such restraint in their own initial characterizations of the tragedy.
On March 29, a police spokesman described it as an "armed confrontation." On April 5, Lightfoot stated that Adam "was in possession of a gun." According to USA Today's reporting, Lightfoot hadn't seen bodycam footage by that point. On April 10, a prosecutor said that Adam was holding a gun when he was shot. Such statements contributed to a false narrative that Adam was somehow a dangerous criminal. But they are not supported by the video footage.