No time to get weary after Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict

Just as many of us across America were feeling elation or joy over the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case, found guilty in the murder of George Floyd on April 20, 2021, little did we know, our jubilation would be so short-lived. But then again, those of us that are “woke” knew that the killing of Black men, women, boys, and girls would not stop just because one racist White cop got convicted of killing a Black man. That is a very sad commentary, but it is the truth.
As of deadline time to turn in this column, here is where we are, with police recently murdering Black people, during attempted arrests, or attempted questionings, to the best of my knowledge:
In the first case I am sharing, even though there is some video footage of the incident, viewers cannot see everything that was happening at the moment of the shooting. We also don’t know what happened leading up to the shooting of 16-year-old Ma’ Khia Bryant of Columbus, Ohio. She was killed by a White, Columbus, Ohio Police Officer on April 20th after police were called to her street because of a fight that was allegedly going on between a group of girls. The bodycam video footage from one of the police officers at the scene appears to show Ma’ Khia lunging towards a girl, with what looks like a knife in her hand. From what you can see in the short video clip, it was a very chaotic scene, but here’s the but: I do not understand why a gun had to be pulled by an officer and shots fired into a teenager.
I keep asking myself, couldn’t a couple of the arriving officers have tackled the young lady to the ground or even used a taser gun on her, rather than a gun with bullets?
Interim Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods says the video footage from the incident was released to the public very quickly, in the interest of trying to be as transparent as possible. In many instances, when these shootings happen, it takes weeks, if not months before video footage is made public, which gives your average citizens a sense that authorities might be trying to hide something. So, in this case, to release the footage so quickly is interesting.
Woods said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) had opened an inquiry into the case. The city’s public safety director, Ned Pettus, Jr., appealed for calm while the investigation proceeds and the facts uncovered in what he called “a devastating” loss of life. “Fast, quick answers cannot come at the cost of accurate answers,” Pettus told a late news conference with the police chief and mayor. “BCI will conduct a fully independent investigation, which will be made public. If an officer has violated policy or the law, if they have, they will be held accountable.”
A day after the Derek Chauvin verdict came in, in North Carolina, another Black man was shot dead by a White Sheriff’s Deputy. Rightly so, people in Elizabeth City, North Carolina are up in arms over this killing which thus far, is leaving quite a few questions unanswered. Leaders and protesters want to know what happened there. Wednesday morning, April 21st, a deputy executing a search warrant shot and killed Andrew Brown. As the story goes, allegedly, Mr. Brown was attempting to get away from police in a car when he was shot dead.
And a Knoxville, Tennessee Police Officer who killed a Black teenage boy, Anthony J. Thompson, Jr., on April 12th of this year, has already been told he will not face charges in that killing.
According to a USA Today Newspaper article published on April 21, 2021, Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen said she will not charge officer Jonathon Clabough that fired the shot that killed Thompson. Clabough also shot officer Adam Willson in the struggle.
“This is a self-defense case,” Allen said at a two-hour news conference. “At the end of the day, we have found the shooting by Officer Clabough was justified.”
Prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced Monday he is representing Thompson’s family.
“Once again, when a Black person is killed, in this case, a Black child, the police quickly shape a narrative to justify the death,” said Crump in a statement issued on Twitter.
In the days after the shooting, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released two differing accounts of what occurred, including an incorrect assertion that Thompson fired a shot that struck an officer.
“The world was told that Anthony shot an officer, and that is why police fatally shot him,” Crump said.
Allen said police went into the school’s bathroom to find Thompson after his girlfriend’s mother accused Thompson of beating her daughter at school. Thompson and his best friend were inside, each in separate stalls, though it is not clear whether police knew that when they entered the bathroom.
Body camera footage revealed four officers wound up inside the bathroom: Clabough, officer Brian Baldwin, school resource officer Adam Willson, and Lt. Stanley Cash. They surrounded Thompson, who was wearing a backpack and began pulling him out of the stall.
Allen said only 11 seconds elapsed between the time Clabough first saw the gun and when he shot Thompson. Allen said she reviewed body camera footage and went over the evidence with Thompson’s family to explain why she has refused to charge the officers in his death. She did not explain to reporters the family’s reaction, including whether they agreed with her decision. “I have just spent four hours with Thompson’s family,” Allen said. “That was a painfully long and agonizing four hours for that family. The only thing the family asked me to do was not to release the video today.”
She released the footage anyway, noting she had promised last week to do so. Knoxville leaders and advocates had asked her to let the community see what happened. The officers have been on paid leave since the shooting. Willson was hospitalized for a few days and is now on paid leave as he recuperates at home. Charles Burks Jr., his attorney, told Knox News on Wednesday night that he believed, from the start, the officers would be vindicated.
I could cite several other cases that have occurred in the last three weeks where Black men have been killed by White police officers. All of these Black men were not criminals or wanted by police. But there is a pattern here, and we need not ignore it.
We will continue to have situations where we learn about people of color being wrongfully abused and or killed in cold blood at the hands of certain police officers. Until the criminal justice system becomes fairer for African Americans and all people of color, and until we have more decent and honest people on our police forces across the nation,
So, for all those celebrating and slapping each other on the back, in a sign of victory, the victory is still not yet ours to be claimed. Get back to work. Sorry to tell you, but the struggle ain’t over.