Black Lives Matter. That’s the plea coming from a community of Americans not simply historically mistreated, but currently being hunted down and killed by our state law enforcement apparatus. Salt Lake City, Utah, is the location of the most recent and horrifying homicide of a black person by a police officer. The Guardian gives a summary of what happened to Patrick Harmon (50) when he was pulled over while biking.
Prosecutors in Salt Lake City have said officers were justified in killing Patrick Harmon, 50, who was pulled over for riding a bicycle without a light and who attempted to flee when police tried to arrest him. Police are not facing charges despite the fact that the body-camera footage captured officer Clinton Fox shouting “I’ll fucking shoot you!” from a distance before he fired three bullets into Harmon, who was running in the opposite direction.
I put the video below the fold because it is incredibly disturbing and graphic. Harmon is clearly distressed the entire time he’s being handcuffed, surrounded by police. He’s never a threat to the police officers. When he breaks away he is quickly shot. The important thing to understand here is that the police were already cuffing him when he broke away. If he was a threat to them he would be on top of them and not fleeing down the street. The aftermath is chilling as you can hear Patrick Harmon crying as he lies dying on the street, a police officer walking over and handcuffing his almost lifeless body.
Salt Lake officials have claimed that the killing of Harmon was legal because the officers feared for their lives, even though the video, released to local media, revealed that Harmon was not advancing toward them. Another officer said he fired his Taser at the same time that Fox shot Harmon. The footage showed the officers handcuffing Harmon as he lay on the ground face-down, groaning in pain.
The district attorney’s office claimed that Harmon said “I’ll cut you” and turned and faced officers with a knife as he was running. The video, however, raises questions about the narrative. Harmon cannot be heard making that threat and was running away from the officer, not facing him, when he was killed.
The video is below. When someone tells you how bent out of shape they are about rich black athletes taking a knee during the national anthem—you know the song that’s playing while you buy beer and stuff your face with overpriced hotdogs?—you can show them the video below and tell them to go jump in a river with their fake flag.