Fear and violence
24th July 2017 · 0 Comments
By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor
After shooting Philando Castille near Minneapolis last July, Officer Jeronimo Yanez was not only spared of any jail time — he was awarded $48,000 and sent on his way. For her part, Tulsa Officer Betty Jo Shelby was also cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Terrence Crutcher last year after pleading her case earlier this year on the CBS show “60 Minutes.” The tears she shed as she talked about feeling like she was being harassed and targeted by a “lynch mob” was a nice touch.
How many times over the past few years have we heard cops use fear as an excuse for murdering unarmed Black and Brown people?
Now comes the case of Minneapolis Officer Mohamed Noor, who fatally shot Australian immigrant Justine Ruszczyk-Damond just before midnight after the woman called police to report what she believed to be an assault in progress near her home.
The victim had the misfortune of reaching the police car just as the officers were started by a loud noise, prompting Officer Noor to shoot her through the driver’s side window. The information the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received came from Noor’s partner, Officer Matthew Harrity.
The officers reportedly didn’t turn on their body cameras until after the shooting and the car’s dashboard camera was never activated. They also didn’t turn their squad car’s lights on, which might explain why the officers were startled by the sudden appearance of Justine Damond at the driver’s side window. Officer Noor was sitting in the passenger seat when he shot her through the driver’s window.
Still, it didn’t take long for the word homicide to start being tossed around.
We didn’t have to wait for the local police department to conduct an internal probe, for the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an investigation or for some white grand jury or district to decide whether state charges were warranted.
It looks like things move rather quickly in the justice system when an officer of color fatally shoots someone white. That appears to be the case in Minneapolis and it also appeared to be the case when two Black state troopers in Louisiana fatally shot a white child during an encounter with the victim’s father.
Despite the so-called “brotherhood” among law enforcement officers and the “Blue wall of silence,” Minneapolis’ Officer Noor appears to have gotten very little in the way of support or defense from his white “brothers” in the Minneapolis PD and his partner, who didn’t hesitate to share his version of what happened even though we hear all the time about how tight-lipped cops can be when one of their own finds himself in hot water.
The fatal shooting of the Australian woman who was planning to get married next month “should not have happened,” Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said Thursday, adding that the officer’s actions “go against who we are in the department.”
In her first public remarks since the fatal shooting, Harteau defended Officer Mohamed Noor’s training but criticized his actions.
“The actions in question go against who we are in the department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers,” Harteau said. “These were the actions and judgment of one individual.”
“This did not have to happen. Justine did not have to die,” she added.
Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a blog post Thursday that officers should turn them on any time they are responding to a call.
Harteau also said the cameras should have been on. She said the department is making changes to its policy on the cameras, rolled out citywide eight months ago, including looking at technology that would turn them on automatically.
Damond’s family has said they want changes in police protocols, including a look at how often officers are required to turn on their cameras. Their Minneapolis attorney, Bob Bennett, said they also “want to see this person not be an officer.”
“He shouldn’t be on the street with a gun making decisions,” Bennett said, adding that he wanted to see Noor’s training records, including how he did in situations involving when to shoot or not shoot.
Harteau said a report on Officer Noor’s training showed no problems.
“This officer completed that training very well,” she said. “He was very suited to be on the street.”
Officer Noor’s treatment by the City of Minneapolis and its police department is radically different from the way the “Danziger 7” were treated in 2006 when they turned themselves in to authorities in New Orleans after murdering two people and wounding four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after Hurricane Katrina. These cops waded through an ocean of supporters who held signs that read “Heroes” and hugged and kissed them as they made their way to be booked. And even after a local judge threw out the case and they were later convicted in federal court, those convictions were overturned and they were granted their freedom before standing trial again.
Something tells me that Minneapolis Officer Mohamed Noor won’t be that lucky. Nor will he be called a hero.
One has to ask, is there no blue wall of silence and protection in the Minneapolis Police Department or are all bets off when a cop who is a Black African and a Muslim shoots a white woman? What if the cop had been an Australian immigrant and the fatal shooting victim had been a Black African who is a Muslim?
Officer Mohamed Noor needs to be held accountable for taking the life of Justine Damond, but so do all law enforcement officers whose actions take the lives of innocent and unarmed Black and Brown men, women and children.
Being scared or spooked is no defense for extinguishing a human life.
We the people need to demand better training, higher standards and equitable consequences for law enforcement officers across the country.
The family of Justine Damond understandably has a lot of questions for the City of Minneapolis and its police department. The outrage, frustration and anguish the family feels is something that families of color know all too well in America.
Black, Brown and poor people know that any time they come into contact with law enforcement officers they could very well lose their lives or find themselves staring down the barrel of a cop’s gun for the unpardonable crime of being. Even calling the cops for assistance can lead to tragic results as we have witnessed over the last few years.
For the record, Black people know that cops are needed. But we need cops who are courageous, courteous, professional, committed to upholding the law and protecting and serving all segments of the community, patient, principled enough to stand up to bullies, murderers and abusive officers and willing to tell the truth when their “brothers” run afoul of the law.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
This article originally published in the July 24, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
