Police shooting and killing Black males is all but a centuries-old American tradition among law enforcement in the U.S. But the fact that this apparent rite of police passage is still thriving in 2020 and only seems to be gaining momentum and not slowing should give any American citizen pause as an increasing number of Black people — especially males both young and old — continue to be added to a growing list of victims with what seems like a new shooting every week.
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The latest instance of an egregious police killing came on the Memorial Day holiday when George Floyd was purportedly suspected of forgery, a nonviolent crime that certainly didn’t warrant Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin handcuffing him and kneeling on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck until he died.
On May 6, police in Indianapolis shot and killed Sean Reed, a 21-year-old U.S. military veteran who was unarmed. Unbeknownst to the cops, Reed was live-streaming the episode on Facebook, a circumstance that allowed the police to be recorded joking about the shooting.
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On April 18, two San Leandro Police officers killed Steven Demarco Taylor, a 33-year-old father of three who was holding a baseball bat and having a manic episode when he was tasered multiple times and shot in a Walmart store in northern California. Lee Merritt, the civil rights attorney who has been retained by Taylor’s family, claims the two cops used “force without proper justification” and pointed out they were “poorly trained to deal with individuals suffering from a mental health crisis.” Merritt said the video footage “is sufficient evidence for authorities to issue an arrest warrant for the shooting officers. He also called on the San Leandro Police department to identify the officers, who he said pose a “deadly threat” to the public. Merritt told the Guardian that even though they were called to Walmart because of a suspected robbery, their training should have informed them that Taylor was suffering from mental illness.
Ariane McCree was shot and killed by two Chester Police officers in South Carolina after being detained for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart on Nov. 23, according to the Herald Online. Police claimed that the 28-year-old was placed in custody, then fled and showed officers a gun. However, the family of McCree, who have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claims that he was “handcuffed, with his hands behind his back, when he was fatally shot,” according to the report. The lawsuit also claimed that McCree was shot by three officers. The officers were not named in the lawsuit, however, the Chester Police Department, Walmart, the city of Chester and three officers said to be involved in the shooting are listed as defendants.
The lawsuit said that McCree went to the Walmart to purchase a new door lock. McCree went through the cashier line, where the employee put the lock in a bag, according to the report. The lawsuit claims McCree left the store but returned after realizing the cashier forgot to charge him for the lock. He was then confronted by police and taken into a loss prevention room at the store.
McCree attempted to explain why he returned to the store but was then detained and searched. The lawsuit states that he ran out of the store because he feared for his life. The lawsuit continued, saying that while handcuffed, McCree ran from the loss prevention room to the crowded Walmart parking lot, in hopes that shoppers would take notice and intervene.
The officers “drew their weapons and began a firefight in the Walmart parking lot — indiscriminately shooting their guns at a handcuffed Ariane as he frantically sought refuge behind parked cars,” according to the lawsuit. The family of McCree is alleging that he was killed in a wrongful death because of the defendants’ actions.
Terrance Franklin was 22 years old and unarmed when he was fatally shot in a dark basement by Minneapolis SWAT officers who were responding to a burglary in May of 2013, according to the Star Tribune. In a lawsuit filed by Franklin’s father, Walter Louis Franklin, II, he alleged that his son had already surrendered with his hands in the air when he was shot. Officers and city officials, however, claim that Franklin was shot after trying to wrestle an M5 rifle from an officer. Two other officers were hit by gunfire, but they both survived.
On Friday, six years after Franklin’s death, Minneapolis City Council reached a settlement with his family for $795,000. The details of the settlement have not been disclosed.
A 23-year-old man named Miles Hall, who suffered from mental illness, was fatally shot by Walnut Creek Police in San Francisco on June 2, 2019. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that his civil rights were violated, according to a report from a San Francisco CBS affiliate. Hall’s family called for help the day he was killed as a precautionary measure because he was running through the neighborhood “behaving erratically,” while carrying a long pry bar that police considered to be a weapon. The police called Hall over when they arrived at the scene. The man ran towards the officers, but ordered him to stop, which he did momentarily before changing directions. His family said Hall was attempting to run “past” the officers. One of the officers fired several “bean bag” rounds at Hall as he approached them while running, but he did not stop running, according to the report. Other officers opened fire, fatally wounding him.
Civil Rights attorney, John Burris, who is representing the family, said that the officers were equipped with tasers, but did not use them. Some of the officers on the scene have done crisis intervention training, and a specialist was notified that Hall was involved in a crisis. However, the safety measures were not adhered to. The family says they reached out to Walnut Creek Police on numerous occasions in the event that they needed help with Hall, the end result would not be fatal. The killing was captured via video footage, which was edited and later released by police on social media.
Most recently, an unarmed driver was handcuffed and placed in a police car before an officer shot him to death on the night of Jan. 27 in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Fox DC reported. The man has been identified by his family as William Green. More than 18 hours later, the Prince George’s County Police Department had still not fully briefed the media, prompting questions from Green’s family about potential false narratives being spread about the victim in an effort to protect the officer who killed him. Still shots from videos claim to show Green not being aggressive, contradicting police reports. It was unclear how old Green was at the time of his killing.
Prior to that, police in Cobb County, Georgia shot and killed a teenager on Jan. 16 who they said was identified as a “murder suspect.” When cops went to serve a warrant to Samuel David Mallard at his home, the 19-year-old reportedly fled before officers stopped he vehicle and “Issued verbal command,” according to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). What came next, though, was unclear — except for the part where four police officers all fired shots at Mallard, who local news outlets said vaguely “did not cooperate” with law enforcement. Conveniently, the GBI also announced that “a gun was found in Mallard’s vehicle,” although there were no reports that alleged gun ever posed a threat to the lives of the officers involved.
Some of the other victims’ names include, but certainly aren’t limited to, Tamir Rice; Botham Shem Jean; E.J. Bradford; and Michael Brown. But two of the most recent names that can tragically be included in this deadly equation are Michael Dean, a 28-year-old father who police shot in the head on Dec. 3, 2019, and Jamee Johnson, a 22-year-old HBCU student who police shot to death after a questionable traffic stop on Dec. 14, 2019.
One of the most distressing parts of this seemingly nonstop string of police killings of Black people is the fact that more times than not, the officer involved in the shooting can hide behind the claim that they feared for their lives — even if the victim was shot in the back, as has become the case for so many deadly episodes involving law enforcement. In a handful of those cases — such as Antwon Rose, a 13-year-old boy killed in Pittsburgh, and Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old killed in Sacramento, both of whom were unarmed — the officers either avoided being criminally charged altogether or were acquitted despite damning evidence that the cops’ lives were not threatened and there was no cause for them to resort to lethal force or any violence for that matter.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has been retained in so many of these cases, described the above scenarios in his new book, “Open Season,” as the “genocide” of Black people.
As NewsOne continues covering these shootings that so often go ignored by mainstream media, the below running list (in no certain order) of Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police under suspicious circumstances can serve as a tragic reminder of the dangers Black and brown citizens face upon being born into a world of hate that has branded them as suspects since birth.
Natosha “Tony” McDade was killed on May 27, 2020, when officers from the Tallahassee Pice Department opened fire for allegedly having a gun pointed at them.
2. George Floyd
George Floyd died May 25, 2020, after a police officer in Minneapolis kneeled on the neck of the 46-year-old handcuffed man who was lying face down on a street. The entire episode was recorded on video by one of many bystanders who heard Floyd tell police he couldn’t breathe, repeated pleas that went ignored. The four responding officers involved were fired as protesters demanded they also be charged with Floyd’s murder.
3. Yassin Mohamed
A police officer in Georgia shot and killed Yassin Mohamed on May 9 in the city of Claxton. A press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation seemed to blame the shooting on Mohamed, who was accused of throwing rocks at a deputy from the Evans County Sheriff’s Office. According to the press release, in the hours before the shooting, Mohamed “attacked an officer with a pipe, as well as attacked an ambulance.” When the deputy who killed him responded to another call about Mohamed being “on foot in the middle of the road,” the press release says Mohamed threw rocks at the deputy. “Mohamed then charged the deputy with a larger rock at which point the deputy discharged his firearm, striking Mohamed,” the press released said. Mohamed died at the scene at the age of 47. A reporters investigation into the shooting has begun.
4. Finan H. Berhe
Finan H. Berhe was shot and killed by a Montgomery County Police Department officer on May 8 in White Oak, Maryland. He was 30 years old.
5. Sean Reed
Source: Twitter
Sean Reed‘s death on May 6, 2020, was live-streamed on Facebook during a footrace running away from police, who Tasered and shot and killed the unarmed 21-year-old Black man who was also a U.S. military veteran. With the Facebook Live still recording, police can be heard joking about how Reed would need a “closed casket” funeral.
6. Steven Demarco Taylor
Source: S. Lee Merritt
The death of Steven Demarco Taylor, who was holding a baseball bat and having a manic episode when he was tasered multiple times and fatally shot inside a California Walmart on April 18, 2020, was captured on video by a bystander. The lawyer for the family of Taylor — who was only 33 years old and a father of three — claims the shooting was “excessive” since officers had already Tasered him.
7. Ariane McCree
Source: The Herald/YouTube
Ariane McCree was shot and killed by two Chester Police officers in South Carolina after being detained for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart on Nov. 23. Police claimed that the 28-year-old was placed in custody, then fled and showed officers a gun. However, the family of McCree, who have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claims that he was “handcuffed, with his hands behind his back, when he was fatally shot.”
8. Terrance Franklin
Terrance Franklin was fatally shot by Minneapolis Police’s SWAT team in 2013 after suspecting that he was involved in a burglary. Officers and officials claim that Franklin tried to wrestle a M5 rifle from one of the officers. However, in a lawsuit filed by Franklin’s father, the family claims that he had already surrendered and had his hands up.
9. Miles Hall
Source: KRON4
Miles Hall, a 23-year-old man who suffered from mental illness, was fatally shot by Walnut Creek Police in San Francisco on June 2, 2019. Hall’s family claims they called the police because he was behaving erratically, while running outside with a metal pole. Instead of deescalating the situation using crisis intervention training, which the officers have received, the man was fatally wounded. The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
10. Darius Tarver
Source: S. Lee Merritt
Darius Tarver, a 23-year-old University of North Texas student, was shot and killed by police in Denton, Texas, on Jan. 21 during a confrontation at an apartment complex. According to the cops, Tarver was approached by responding officers after residents called 911 about a guy who was banging on doors and yelling for someone to let him in. “Tarver’s father, a McKinney Police Department chaplain was allowed to see the bodycam from the shooting and believes it sharply contradicts official narratives,” civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt said.
11. William Green
Green was reportedly pulled over for driving erratically, handcuffed and placed in the front seat of a police cruiser in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on the night of Jan. 27 before a police officer entered the car and shot him while he was restrained by the cuffs as well as a seat belt. Police have tried to criminalize him as a suspected drug user, but either way Green was already restrained when police shot him, meaning there is no way cops could have feared for their lives before deciding to shoot him. This is America.
12. Samuel David Mallard, 19
When cops went to serve a warrant to Samuel David Mallard at his home, the 19-year-old reportedly fled before officers stopped he vehicle and “Issued verbal command,” according to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. What came next, though, was unclear — except for the part where four police officers all fired shots at Mallard, who local news outlets said vaguely “did not cooperate” with law enforcement. Conveniently, the GBI also announced that “a gun was found in Mallard’s vehicle,” although there were no reports that alleged gun ever posed a threat to the lives of the officers involved.
13. Kwame "KK" Jones, 17
Source: facebook
Kwame “KK” Jones was killed by police after he and a friend were stopped while driving in a car in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2020. Police said that an officer approached the car and “an exchange” ensued. The cop then fired his weapon several times, striking both Jones and the other unidentified male, who survived the shooting. Jones did not. Police claim there was a rifle in the car, which Jones’ family said was suspicious since the photo evidence is “of a gun that has already been booked into evidence and not a photo from the scene.”
14. De’von Bailey, 19
The 19-year-old was shot in the back by police on Aug. 3. In November of 2019, a grand jury unanimously decided to not indict the two police officers who shot him.
15. Christopher Whitfield, 31
The unarmed Louisiana man was shot and killed by police after he was accused of stealing raw chicken. Whitfield struggled with mental health issues.
16. Anthony Hill, 26
Anthony Hill, an Air Force veteran, was unarmed and naked when he was killed at 26 years old in March of 2015. Former officer Robert Olsen was found guilty of aggravated assault, one count of making false statements and two counts of violation of oath by a public officer — but not murder or manslaughter.
De’Von Bailey was only 19 years old when he was shot and killed by Colorado Springs police on Aug. 3. Police claimed he was reaching for a gun, which has not been proven.
18. Eric Logan, 54
Eric Logan was killed June 16, 2019, in South Bend, Indiana, where presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is mayor. Sgt. Ryan O’Neill said he was responding to a call that someone was breaking into cars before he claimed Logan threatened him with a knife. O’Neill did not activate his body camera during the encounter, which is against city policy. Logan’s family announced they sued the city and O’Neill. The lawsuit claimed O’Neill violated Logan’s civil rights in several ways, including using excessive force with willfulness and reckless indifference and subjecting him to “unlawful treatment on the basis of race.” The lawsuit also blamed the city for not properly training, supervising, controlling and disciplining officers. The family alleged the city also violated the constitutional rights of residents on a “regular basis” by rarely investigating wrongdoing by officers.
19. Jamarion Robinson, 26
Jamarion Robinson was killed by police in East Point, Georgia, in August of 2016. He was shot 76 times after refusing to open the door of his girlfriend’s home when officers knocked. Police then kicked in the door and began firing.
20. Gregory Hill Jr., 30
Gregory Hill Jr. was killed in a matter of seconds after police shot him in his own garage in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Jan. 14, 2014. Reports said local residents called police with a noise complaint because of the loud music being played in the garage. When Hill opened the garage and saw it was police, he tried to close it before police shot him in the head and elsewhere. Hill’s family has maintained he was unarmed when he was shot. The family of Gregory Hill was awarded a grand total of four cents after a federal jury concluded in 2019 that the police involved in the shooting did not use excessive force.
21. JaQuavion Slaton, 20
JaQuavion Slaton was killed in a hail of as many as 10 shots in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 11, 2019. Officers claimed Slaton had a gun but had not provided any proof.
On June 12, Brandon Webber was reportedly shot 20 times U. S. Marshalls in his family’s yard in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 20 years old.
24. Jimmy Atchison, 21
On Jan. 22, 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison was shot and killed by police officer Sung Kim. Police allegedly entered an apartment complex with military assault-style rifles to execute a run-of-the-mill warrant for robbery.
25. Willie McCoy, 20
On February 9, 2019, Willie McCoy fell asleep at a drive through in Vallejo, California. When police approached him, he was shot 25 times. Police claimed there was a gun in his lap. His lawyer told The New York Times shortly after the shooting, “He was just riddled with bullets. It was really a shock how many times he was actually struck.”
Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. was shot by police while trying to save people from a shooter at an Alabama mall. The military veteran was killed on Thanksgiving night.
27. D’ettrick Griffin, 18
On Jan. 15, the 18-year-old was reportedly attempting to steal a car from a police officer who wasn’t in uniform. He reportedly slid into the driver’s seat the cop was pumping gas. Griffin tried to drive away and the officer filed multiple shots. There was no weapon on Griffin.
28. Jemel Roberson, 26
The 26-year-old was reportedly gunned down by cops when he was trying to save people from a mass shooter on November 11, 2018 in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
29. DeAndre Ballard, 23
On Sept 18, 2018, the N.C. Central University student was fatally shot on campus by a security guard with the N.C. Detective Agency. The guard claimed he shot the unarmed 23-year-old in self defense.
30. Botham Shem Jean, 26
Botham Shem Jean was killed on Sept. 6, 2018, when off-duty police officer Amber Guyger entered his home and shot him to death in Dallas. Her excuse: She said she thought it was her apartment. She was later charged with manslaughter three days after the shooting.
On June 19, in Pittsburgh, 17-year-old Antwon Rose was shot and killed by Officer Michael H. Rosfeld during a traffic stop. He would have been 18 on July 12.
On June 11, Robert Lawrence White was fatally shot in Silver Spring, Maryland. A minutes-long confrontation ensued between Montgomery County Police Department officer Anand Badgujar over a “suspicious” person reported in the area. White, who was unarmed, began walking away from the scene the officer fired several rounds and Lawrence was killed.
33. Anthony Lamar Smith, 24
Source: Getty
Anthony Lamar Smith was shot and killed in December 2011 by former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley after a car chase. Stockley’s acquittal in September 2017 sparked protests.
34. Ramarley Graham, 18
Source: Getty
Ramarley Graham was unarmed when New York City police officer Richard Haste — who chased Graham into his Bronx home during an alleged drug bust gone awry — shot and killed him in front of his grandmother and little brother in his bathroom on Feb. 2, 2012.
35. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31
Source: Getty
Manuel Loggins Jr, an unarmed U.S. Marine sergeant and married father of three, was fatally shot by a deputy after he reportedly crashed through a gate while driving an SUV with his daughters inside the vehicle at a high school parking lot in San Clemente, California during the early morning hours of Feb. 7, 2012.
36. Trayvon Martin, 17
Source: Getty
Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida, sparking a movement against excessive force and police violence.
37. Wendell Allen, 20
Source: Getty
Officer Joshua Colclough fired a single bullet into the chest of a shirtless and unarmed Wendell Allen during a drug raid at Allen’s home— with several children between the ages of 1 and 14 inside the house — in the Gentilly section of New Orleans on March 7, 2012.
38. Kendrec McDade, 19
Source: Getty
Kendrec McDade, a local football star, was gunned down by Pasadena, California police, who responded to a report of a robbery when they pursued McDade on foot and claimed he reached toward his waistband for a weapon, on March 24, 2012.
39. Larry Jackson Jr., 32
Source: Getty
On July 26, 2013, Larry Eugene Jackson Jr., a father of three, was killed by police officer Charles Kleinert who commandeered a woman’s car and chased an unarmed Jackson after an interrogation about a robbery at a bank in Austin, Texas.
40. Jonathan Ferrell, 24
Source: Getty
Unarmed former Florida A&M University football player Jonathan Ferrell was fatally struck by 10 of 12 shots fired by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall “Wes” Kerrick after the cop responded to a home — where Ferrell had supposedly gone for help after a car wreck just outside of Charlotte — on Sept. 14, 2013.
41. Jordan Baker, 26
Source: Getty
Jordan Baker was fatally shot on Jan. 16, 2014 by Houston, Texas police officer Juventino Castro, a Hispanic cop who was off duty but in uniform, during what his family said was a racial profiling stop at a strip mall that highlighted failures among police in training cops in the proper use of deadly force.
42. Victor White lll, 22
Source: Getty
Victor White lll died while handcuffed in the back of a police car from what authorities said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound — though White’s father maintained that his son was fatally shot by police in what his attorney believed was a cover-up — outside of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana during an alleged drug arrest in the early morning hours on March 3, 2014.
43. Dontre Hamilton, 31
Source: Getty
Police officer Christopher Manney fired 14 shots and killed Dontre Hamilton, who was reportedly mentally ill, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 30, 2014 after responding to a call for a welfare check on a man sleeping in the park.
44. Eric Garner, 43
Source: Getty
Eric Garner, a father of six, died after New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in an apparent chokehold — a tactic prohibited by NYPD policy — as he wailed “I can’t breathe” during a videotaped arrest for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island, New York on July 17, 2014.
45. John Crawford lll, 22
Source: Getty
John Crawford lll was fatally shot on Aug. 5, 2014 after police responded to an emergency call about someone waving a rifle — a bb gun that Crawford carried — at a Walmart store in Beavercreek, a suburb in Dayton, Ohio.
46. Michael Brown, 18
Source: Getty
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was fatally shot on Aug. 9, 2014, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis, prompting nationwide protests and an agreement with the Department of Justice for police reforms after a blistering DOJ probe uncovered routine racist practices among police.
47. Ezell Ford, 25
Source: Getty
Ezell Ford, whose family described him as mentally ill, died after he was shot multiple times by Los Angeles Police Department officers in Florence, California, on August 11, 2014.
48. Dante Parker, 36
Source: Getty
Dante Parker, a father of five, died on August 12, 2014 after he was Tasered by a San Bernardino County, California, Sheriff’s Deputy, who tried to restrain him on a suspicion of trying to break into a home.
49. Kajieme Powell, 25
Source: Getty
Two police officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan police fatally fired 12 shots at Kajieme Powell, a mentally ill man who was suspected of shoplifting at a convenience store, on Aug. 19, 2014, less than four miles from where police killed Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014.
50. Laquan McDonald, 17
Source: Getty
Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in the city’s South Side area on October 20, 2014, with police dashboard camera video of the shooting death having amplified outrage toward a beleaguered police department grappling with a reported record of collusion, cover-ups and excessive force against Blacks.
51. Akai Gurley, 28
Source: Getty
Akai Gurley was fatally shot on November 20, 2014 in New York City by NYPD officer Peter Liang in a dark public housing stairwell.
52. Tamir Rice, 12
Source: Getty
On Nov. 22, 2014, Tamir E. Rice was fatally shot by Cleveland police at a park outside of a recreation center after he reportedly reached for a fake pistol — an airsoft-type gun replica of a semi-automatic handgun that shot pellets — which cops mistook for a weapon.
53. Rumain Brisbon, 34
Source: Getty
Police officer Mark Rine opened fire and killed Rumain Brisbon when he found Brisbon with what he claimed looked like a gun in his pocket — though the item turned out to be a bottle of painkillers according to reports — after he responded to a tip about a suspected drug deal at a north Phoenix, Arizona apartment complex on Dec. 2, 2014.
54. Jerame Reid, 36
Source: Getty
Two Bridgeton, New Jersey police officers fired fatal shots at Jerame Reid, who they alleged defied orders to remain in a vehicle and stepped out of the passenger’s side, with his hands raised, during a traffic stop on Dec. 30, 2014 in a shooting death that prompted protests in the predominantly Black city.
55. Charly Keunang, 43
Source: Getty
Charly Leundeu Keunang, a homeless Cameroonian national, was shot and killed by three Los Angeles police officers after supposedly reaching for a cop’s holstered gun during a struggle in the city’s skid row area on March 1, 2015 in a shooting death that garnered international attention when a Facebook video was posted.
56. Tony Robinson, 19
Source: Getty
A Madison, Wisconsin cop fatally shot unarmed teen Tony Robinson seven times after the officer responded to reports of a battery at a residence and a struggle ensued between the two on March 6, 2015 — a shooting that led to protests and a sit-in at Madison City Hall.
57. Walter Scott, 50
Source: Getty
Walter Scott was killed by North Charleston, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager, who fired eight shots at the father of four after having chased him on foot following a traffic stop on April 4, 2015.
58. Freddie Gray, 25
Source: Getty
Freddie Gray died in Baltimore on April 19, 2015 — a week after he was arrested, dragged into a police van, restrained and suffered a spine injury during a brutal incident involving six officers that amplified police and community tensions.
59. Brendon Glenn, 29
Source: Getty
Video footage captured the fatal shooting of Brendon Glenn, an unarmed homeless man, by Los Angeles police officer Clifford Proctor, a black cop who claimed Glenn attempted grabbing his gun during a struggle along the Venice beach boardwalk, on May 5, 2015 in a tragedy that fueled criticisms of police’s treatment of African-Americans.
60. Samuel DuBose, 43
Source: Getty
On July 19, 2015, University of Cincinnati police officer Raymond Tensing fired a fatal shot through a car window that struck Samuel DuBose in the head during a traffic stop near the university’s campus in Ohio.
61. Christian Taylor, 19
Source: Getty
Texas teenager and star football player Christian Taylor, who allegedly had marijuana and synthetic drugs in his system and acted erratically, was killed by an Arlington police officer during a suspected burglary at a car dealership on Aug. 7, 2015.
62. Jamar Clark, 24
Source: Getty
After responding to a domestic dispute, Minneapolis, Minnesota police fatally shot an unarmed Jamar Clark during an altercation on Nov. 15, 2015 that spurred Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and other activists to fight using #Justice4Jamar.
63. Mario Woods, 26
Source: Getty
San Francisco police reportedly fired more than 20 gunshots at Mario Woods, who cops suspected of a stabbing, during a stand-off on Dec. 2, 2015 that underscored the SFPD’s documented history of systematic racism.
64. Quintonio LeGrier, 19
Source: Getty
Quintonio LeGrier, who called 911 a reported three times for help in a domestic disturbance with his father, was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer, who claimed LeGrier came out him with a baseball bat, on Dec. 26, 2015 in an alleged racially motivated shooting that also left LeGrier’s 55-year-old neighbor Bettie Jones fatally wounded.
65. Gregory Gunn, 58
Source: Getty
Gregory Gunn was fatally struck by five shots fired by a white Montgomery, Alabama police officer, who claimed he looked “suspicious” while walking home from a friend’s home in the early hours of Feb. 5, 2016 — the incident shed light on several past episodes of police violence dating back decades in Montgomery.
66. Akiel Denkins, 24
Source: Getty
Akiel Denkins was gunned down by a white Raleigh, North Carolina police officer during a foot chase when he attempted fleeing a drug-related arrest and allegedly pulled a handgun out on Feb. 29, 2016.
67. Alton Sterling, 37
Source: Getty
Alton Sterling was shot to death on July 5, 2016 when two white officers pinned him to the pavement during an arrest outside a convenience store where he had sold CDs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The cops weren’t charged with any crime.
68. Philando Castile, 32
Source: Getty
Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor in St. Paul, Minnesota, was shot and killed by police officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop for a “busted tail light” in Falcon Heights on July 6, 2016, with his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds having livestreamed the horrific moments after his shooting on Facebook Live.
69. Terrence Sterling, 31
Source: Getty
Terrence Sterling, a motorcyclist from Fort Washington, Maryland, was fatally shot twice in his neck and back by a Washington, D.C. police officer during the early morning on Sept. 11, 2016 after cops received a call about a motorcyclist driving recklessly in the area.
70. Terence Crutcher, 40
Source: Getty
Footage from a police dashboard camera captured the moment when an unarmed Terence Crutcher was fatally shot by police officer Betty Shelby in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Sept. 16, 2016 after police reportedly received 911 calls about his stalled SUV blocking a road.
71. Keith Lamont Scott, 43
Source: Getty
Keith Lamont Scott was killed by a black officer Brentley Vinson, who believed he had a gun, after exiting his SUV during a confrontation at his apartment complex in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sept. 20, 2016 in an incident that led to a governor-declared state of emergency after violent protests.
72. Alfred Olango, 38
Source: Getty
Alfred Olango, an Ugandan refugee, was fatally shot during a reported “mental breakdown” by El Cajon, California police on Sept. 27, 2016 after he pulled out a vaping device in front of cops in a shopping center.
73. Jordan Edwards, 15
Source: Getty
Jordan Edwards was shot in the head and killed by Balch Springs, Texas cop Roy Oliver, who fired rounds into a vehicle hitting the teen sitting in the front passenger seat after leaving a party, on April 29, 2017.
74. Stephon Clark, 22
On Sunday, March 18, 2018, Sacramento police responded to a call “that a thin, 6-foot-1 Black man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark pants was hiding in a residential backyard after breaking car windows,” according to The Sacramento Bee. Just eight minutes later, officers fired over 20 times at 22-year-old Stephon Clark — in his own backyard. Reportedly, they “feared” for their lives because they saw a gun in his hand. It turned out he was only carrying a cellphone.
In March 2018, Danny Ray Thomas, 34, was arguing with another person and acting erratic when the deputy arrived at the scene. The Houston officer fired a single shot at Thomas, who died later at a hospital. Authorities claimed that Thomas had an object in his hand, but investigators did not recover a weapon.
76. DeJuan Guillory, 27
A police officer shot DeJuan Guillory On July 6, a Louisana officer Holden LaFleur shot DeJuan Guillory while he was riding an ATV with his girlfriend on a gravel road. The officer claimed he pulled them over to ask for their identification after responding to a call for an ATV theft. The officer claimed Guillory had attacked him and that the girlfriend went for his gun as he tried to make an arrest. Guillory, 27, who was unarmed, was shot dead and his girlfriend, DeQuince Brown, was later charged with the attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. Guillory was shot in the back.
77. Patrick Harmon, 50
On August 13, 2017, Patrick Harmon was shot and killed by police in Salt Lake City, Utah. The district attorney said the shooting was “legally justified.”
78. Jonathan Hart, 21
Jonathan Hart was a 21-year-old Black gay man who was homeless in the Los Angeles area. On December 4, he was reportedly shot and killed in the back by a security guard in a Walgreens. He was allegedly shoplifting, but eyewitnesses said he was not stealing.
79. Maurice Granton, 24
On June 6, Maurice Granton, 24, was reportedly unarmed when he was shot in the back and killed by police in Chicago. The police report accused Granton of producing a weapon but body cam footage appeared to show there was no weapon. The family filed a lawsuit against the Chicago police in July of 2018.
80. Julius Johnson, 23
In 2009, the unarmed 23-year-old was killed by Officer Charles Anderson who claimed he was attacked and “feared for his life.” Johnson’s sister told detectives that she heard her brother plead for his life before being killed but she was charged with lying to police and was sentenced to three months in jail. Ten years later, a KKK application was found framed in Anderson’s home.
81. Jamee Johnson, 22
Source: S. Lee Merritt
Jamee Johnson, a student at the historically Black Florida A&M University, was killed by police in Jacksonville on Dec. 14, 2019, after a questionable traffic stop. Police say that Johnson was armed and tried to flee in his car, but his parents say he was legally licensed to possess a firearm in an open-carry state and that he never would have broken the law. There were no immediate charges against the officers involved and civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt have been retained by Johnson’s family to investigate.
82. Michael Dean, 28
Source: S. Lee Merritt
Michael Dean, a 28-year-old father, was shot in the head by trigger-happy Temple Police Department Officer Carmen DeCruz, in Texas on Dec. 3, 2019. A preliminary autopsy report declared Dean’s death a homicide. But as of Dec. 20, police had not released any other information in a suspected coverup. Dean’s mother said a police detective initially told her that her son didn’t pull over right away and when he exited the car, he walked toward the officer, who then shot him.
