The history that went into killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo
This was on Raw Story today and I thought it worth mentioning here. I was pretty appalled by it, especially as the granddaughter of one who was a US Marshal (I know, slightly different policing!) in a pretty rough place during prohibition and I think early in the Depression. My grandfather would b e appalled at the actions of Derek Chauvin, Kim Potter, et al.
"Adam Toledo, 13, is one of about 1,000 people every year who are killed by police officers. Video of the incident was released reluctantly Thursday by the Chicago Police Department. It shows a cop, who is white, shooting Toledo once in the chest after the Hispanic youngster obeyed his commands by dropping his gun and raising his hands. People are still arguing about whether Toledo's death was justified. (It wasn't.) There is no argument, however, about its place in the racist history of policing in America.
Of the 6,211 people killed by police since 2015, about 10 percent were unarmed. Over half were not attempting to flee. While white Americans account for nearly half, Black people, men as well as women, are killed at almost twice the rate of white people. Native Americans and Latino men also face a higher risk of being killed by police than white people. Alternatively, 295 officers were killed in the line of duty last year. The average death toll for police for the last six years was 190, making the public more in danger from police officers than police officers were in danger from the public."
Obviously, a lot more, and food for thought, at:
https://www.rawstory.com/adam-toledo/
