Is There Really an “EPIDEMIC” of White Racist Police Killing Unarmed Black Men? No More Heroes?

(2019 Statistics From Washington Post)

TOTAL UNARMED BLACK MEN FATALLY SHOT BY POLICE IN USA

NINE

What do these nine cases tell us?

1. Marzues Scott- attacked store employee and police called. Scott attacked officer beating HER in the head several times. Officer shot Scott from the ground in self defense.

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

2. Kevin Bruce Mason — First shoot-out with police when he was younger. Woman called police because he was assaulting her and feared for her life. Police arrive. Mason said he has a gun and is going to come out and kill them all (recorded). Runs out of house in dark threatening them (all on body cam) and appears to have a gun. Officer yells hands up under arrest- Mason charges. Officer shoots.

All protocols followed. Proof of racial bias. None

3. Marcus McVae — shot while assaulting an officer. McVae had a long history of violence. He’d already been arrested in the past for assault of a public servant. Local media calls him “a renowned criminal”

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

4. Isaiah Lewis was shot after beating an officer unconscious.

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

5. Micheal Dean- Car chase. Officer reached in Dean’s car to grab keys and when he pulled on keys he met some resistance. Body camera shows he accidentally fired his weapon when he jerked back from the resistance. Although accidental- Tragic and CLEARLY unjustified shooting.

Officer rightly charged with manslaughter. Proof of racial bias. None

6. Josef Delon Richardson- 37 arrests. Witnesses say hallucinating from all the drugs he earlier swallowed in order to dispose of them. Resisted arrest and fought officer. Was known to have a gun he kept in his waistband. Second officer saw Richardson’s hand drop to waist while assaulting other officer and fired single fatal shot.

Officer not charged. No racial bias found. Investigation ongoing

7. Channara Tom Pheap -assaulted, choked and tried to kill officer. Grabbed his Taser and used it on officer. Officer fired in self defense.

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

8. Christopher Whitfield- accidentally shot in scuffle with sheriff. Investigation. Grand jury cleared sheriff of any charges.

No evidence to charge officer. Proof of racial bias. None

9. Ryan Twyman- officers serving warrant under investigation for convicted felon possessing guns. Twyman tries to run officer over with his passenger door. Officers fire.

Case still under review. No charges “yet” against officers. Proof of racial bias. None

***Kevin Pudlik was killed after his friend driving the car pinned an officer to a concrete wall. The driver was charged with Pudlik’s death, not the officer.

(This case was added but unlike the Post we believe a trying to kill someone with a motor vehicle is not exactly “unarmed”)

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

***Melvin Watkins- tried to kill officer by running him over. Officer fired in self defense.

(This case was added but unlike the Post we believe a trying to kill someone with a motor vehicle is not exactly “unarmed”)

Officer justified shooting. Proof of racial bias. None

Unarmed shootings by police do not mean “unjustified” shootings as portrayed in the media. There are many scenarios where an officer is trained and must fire his or her weapon…, of course many times in self defense. Regardless of the opinion’s one may have in the officer’s shootings above, clearly there is not an epidemic of racist “killings” of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers. The total number of fatal shootings did not make it beyond single digits, and the majority of them are easily considered justified …, especially with 2/3 of them being self-defense.

The couple cases that are questionable as to being justified shootings are in the appropriate place with the appropriate charges. However you look at it, not a single incident has been deemed a racist hate crime by any prosecutor or professional associated with any of these the events.

(Total count of unarmed white men fatally shot by police for 2019 was 19.)

It is hard to imagine how these numbers have turned into a claim of epidemic proportions. Sure there are some bad cops out there ( as “possibly” shown in a couple of cases above), but a racial manhunt? It seems irresponsible to frame this narrative especially knowing the violence that is incited in the process, and having zero evidence to justify racism as a motive in any of these cases.

To classify this in an epidemic you would have to either ignore the numbers or have an obvious agenda. No reasonable person would classify anywhere from zero to two (if you must) cases this way.

If YOU decided (based on a feeling? preconceived thought?) that two of these cases were racially motivated (you can’t possibly know that and there is no evidence to suggest it)…, does that justify the response you see in the streets where innocent people have lost their livelihoods, people including cops have been maimed or killed, communities destroyed and cities burned?

Cops are now a target, have been defunded, and are leaving the force in droves. Violent crime rates are instantly at new record levels especially in the very communities they were protecting, and in some places new cop applications are down 90%.

Is this really what we want? Perhaps a more meaningful discussion based on actual data to address the true problems, not the gross mischaracterizations. Perhaps casting aside the hatred that is behind this narrative.

These officers are fathers, husbands, and wives who put their lives literally on the line every day. Mostly heroes in these inner cities. There should probably be some proof of such a heinous claim before randomly convicting a public servant in uniform. It could be a member of your family one day.

#FactsMatter