A rash of young black males have been shot and killed by so-called law enforcement officers lately, but the case that really bothers me is the story of 22-year-old James Crawford III who was shot dead at Walmart by a cop--compounded by a grand jury's decision not to indict the cop who shot him.
For those who aren't familiar with the story, Crawford was at Walmart looking at BB guns and when another customer saw him and called 911 telling a wildly inflated story about a black man waving a rifle and pointing it at people. In my view, the person who made that call was driven by racism and irrational fear of black people. That call prompted anxious cops to show up expecting something that wasn't there and unfortunately one of them shot Crawford dead anyway.
Of course the cops' story is that they're trained to take aggressive action against "active shooters." And of course they say they ordered Crawford to stand down when they approached him. The only problem is the store's surveillance video clearly shows that Crawford wasn't holding the BB gun when the cop shot him. In the video, he was on his cell phone and then was startled and panicked after hearing the commotion created by the cops' charging toward him, dropped the gun and fled. It's entirely possible that since Crawford was on the phone he didn't clearly hear whatever the cops may or may not have been saying. Then, he apparently realized he dropped the gun and went back for it. At that moment he went back for it, one of the approaching cops killed him.
In the wake of the grand jury's confusing decision not to indict the cop who killed their loved one, Crawford's family issued a statement. Here's the part that stands out most to me:
"It makes absolutely no sense that an unarmed 22-year-old man would be killed doing what any American citizen does every day: shopping at a Walmart store. The Crawford family is extremely disappointed, disgusted and confused."
I think it's okay to say any fair-minded American who believes in justice is extremely disappointed, disgusted and confused at this point--especially since the customer who made the 911 later recanted what he or she allegedly told the dispatcher.
Here's a portion of a balanced story by Sheila McLaughlin from Cincinnati.Com (http://www.cincinnati.com/...) on the incident:
Crawford's family insists the shooting was unjustified and that the case has racial undertones. His father has suggested that police would have been more patient and not have fired if Crawford was white.
Authorities said Crawford was walking around the store Aug. 5 with a MK-177 BB/pellet rifle he picked up from an aisle in the sporting goods section. He was pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital around 9:25 p.m., shortly after police opened fire at the store.
Crawford Jr., who has viewed a security video of the shooting, said his son was at the store with a female friend to pick up picnic items on the way to a cookout in Dayton. The video showed that Crawford casually walking around the store with the pellet gun, which he picked up from a shelf in the sporting goods section, Crawford Jr. said. He said his son was on his cellphone talking to the mother of his two young sons, with his back to police, when he was shot.
Police officials said the responding officers – Williams and Sgt. David Darkow – ordered Crawford to drop the gun but he didn't comply. But Crawford Jr. said there was no reaction from his son, so he couldn't have been given any commands from police before he alleges Williams fired.
"We were waiting to see him menacing, waving this thing in a threatening position with women or children. None of that happened from the footage we saw. He wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there. The final analysis is that my son was murdered," Crawford Jr. told The Enquirer earlier this month.
"All this nonsense of (them saying) 'Put the weapon down' two or three times. There was no reaction from him. There couldn't have been a cadence given."
Police said they responded when a customer called 911, saying a man was waving a gun inside the store. The customer has since retracted the account, according to media reports on the case.
Retracted the account?! A young man is dead and that person can just retract the account?! The person who called 911 should be charged with making a false call to 911. The blood of James Crawford is just as much on his/her hands as it is on the police officer's who actually pulled the trigger and shot him dead.
The lesson learned for me and every black man in America: Do not pick up a toy gun in any store, even if there are open-carry gun nuts around toting real, loaded weapons--because if anybody is going to be accosted and/or shot by the police it will be us.