Stories

Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African-American man who was fatally shot by a Bart police officer at Oakland's Fruitvale Station on January 1, 2009. He was on his way back from San Francisco when a fight broke out on the Bart train and the Bart police responded. When the police got there they detained Oscar and his friends.Two officers , Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was lying face down and handcuffed. Mehserle drew his pistol (which he said he thought was his taser) and shot Grant once in the back. Grant was unarmed. Mehserle , who was responsible for shooting Oscar was sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter . Out of the two years he was sentenced he served eleven months. Source: nytimes.com

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Trayvon is a seventeen year old African American who's life was taken by a white neighborhood watchman , George Zimmerman . Martin was visiting his dad when he was killed. In response to a rash of robberies and burglaries, the residents of the community established a neighborhood watch in September 2011. George Zimmerman, one of the residents, was selected as the program coordinator. Zimmerman regularly patrolled the streets and was licensed to carry a firearm. From August 2011 to February 2012, Zimmerman had called police several times to state he had seen individuals whom he had deemed as suspicious. All of the reported figures were Black males. On February 26, Zimmerman saw Martin, who had left the house to purchase Skittles and iced tea. He saw Martin and called the police and reported a "suspicious" guy who was walking between homes and starting to run. Police told Zimmerman to stay in his vehicle and follow Martin but instead he got out the car and approached Martin. Not long after Zimmerman confronted Martin he shoot the unarmed teen in the chest,killing him.Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder on April 11, 2012 but was acquitted about a month later (July 13, 2013). Source:biography.com

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Tamir is a twelve year old African American boy who was shot down by Cleveland police for allegedly pointing a gun at random people that walked by the Cudell Recreation Center. Upon their arrival the two officers , Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, reported that Rice reached towards a gun in his waistband.Within two seconds of arriving on the scene, Loehmann fired two shots, striking Tamir once in his torso. Neither officer administered first aid after they shot Rice. A grand jury declined to charge Loehmann who fatally shot a 12-year-old boy holding a pellet gun, capping more than a year of investigation into a case that added to national outrage over white officers killing African-Americans. Source: Wikipedia.com

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Philando Castile was an African American male who was fatally shot by a St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer,Jeronimo Yanez, after being pulled over for a broken tail light. Castile was driving in the car with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter as passengers when he was pulled over by two officers . According to Reynolds, after being asked for his license and registration, Castile told the officer he was licensed to carry a weapon and had one in the car. Reynolds stated: "The officer said don't move. As he was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times. Reynolds live-streamed a video on Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. In the video, it shows her interacting with the armed officer as a mortally injured Castile lay slumped over, moaning slightly and his left arm and side bloody. This case is still under investigation and the officer involved, Jeronimo Yanez , was placed on administrative leave, as was his partner, Joseph Kauser, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting. Source: Cnn.com

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Brown was an 18-year-old black man who was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer. Wilson had been notified by police dispatch of the robbery at the convenience store and descriptions of the two suspects. Wilson had seen Brown and his friend walking down the street and they matched the description of the two robbery suspects. Wilson then backed up his cruiser and blocked the boys. Shortly after he blocked them an altercation began with Brown and Wilson struggling through the window of the police vehicle for control of Wilson's gun until it was fired.Brown and his friend fled the scene with Wilson in pursuit of Brown. Brown stopped and turned to Wilson and when he moved toward Wilson he fired several times, all striking Brown in the front. Brown was unarmed and was moving toward Wilson when the final shots were fired. On Nov. 24, the St. Louis County prosecutor announced that a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson. Source: nytimes.com

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Sterling was shot several times at close range while held on the ground by two white Baton Rouge Police Department officers. The police were responding to a report that a man that was dressed in a red shirt was selling CDs, and he had used a gun to threaten someone outside a convenience store.The shooting led to protests in Baton Rouge and a request for a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers in this incident are on paid administrative leave and are still currently under investigation. Source: Wikipedia.com

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Garner died in New York City when a NYPD (New York Police Department) officer put him in a chokehold for about 15 to 19 seconds while arresting him. Officers approached Garner on suspicion of selling "loosies" (single cigarettes) from packs without tax stamps. After Garner told the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, the officers went to arrest Garner. When officer Daniel Pantaleo tried to take Garner's wrist behind his back, Garner pulled his arms away. Pantaleo then put his arm around Garner's neck and took him down onto the ground. After Pantaleo removed his arm from Garner's neck, he pushed the side of Garner's face into the ground while four officers moved to restrain Garner, who repeated "I can't breathe" eleven times while lying facedown on the sidewalk. Garner was unarmed .After he lost consciousness the officers turned him on his side until paramedics arrived.When the paramedics arrived they did not perform CPR on Garner at the scene because they believed that Garner was breathing and that it would be improper to perform CPR on someone who was still breathing. After Garners death officer Pantaleo was offered light work in the office instead of paid administrative leave .In December 2014, a grand jury opted not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death. Source: Wikipedia.com

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Freddie Gray was 25 year old African American who was assaulted by police officers, while in their custody. Freddie was taken in by the police because he had a knife, which is not a crime. On April 19th 2015, he died because of a spinal injury. Because this happened while he was in police custody, with no witnesses, there is no way of knowing how exactly he was injured. Freddie's death led to many protest in Baltimore, which soon turned violent. The police officers involved in this case were simply suspended with pay, even though Freddie's death was ruled to be a homicide. After the case was taken to court, the officers were charged with crimes ranging from second-degree "depraved-heart" murder to illegal arrest. Source:theatlantic.com

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