12/6/2014
Unarmed Black Suspect Killed by Police in Phoenix
WASHINGTON – A white police officer in Phoenix fatally shot an unarmed African-American man suspected of selling drugs.
The death of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon occurred Tuesday night during a scuffle with the unnamed officer, who was responding to a report about someone selling drugs out of an SUV.
The officer approached the SUV and ordered Brisbon to show his hands, according to a statement from Phoenix police.
Instead of complying, Brisbon, who was alone, jumped out of the vehicle and fled inside a nearby apartment building.
A struggle ensued when the officer caught up with the suspect.
At one point, Brisbon, an ex-convict, stuck a hand in his pocket and the officer, in grabbing for the suspect’s hand, felt what he thought was the handle of a gun.
The officer, police said, repeatedly instructed Brisbon to keep his hand in his pocket and when the suspect ignored the order, the officer shot him twice in the torso.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The object the 30-year-old officer thought was a gun turned out to be a bottle of oxycodone bills. A search of Brisbon’s vehicle turned up a semi-automatic handgun and a container of what appeared to be marijuana.
An attorney for Brisbon’s family, Marci Kratter, told media outlets that she has been in touch with witnesses whose accounts of the incident contradict the version provided by police.
The Phoenix shooting came a day before a grand jury in New York City decided not to charge a white police officer for applying a chokehold while trying to detain Eric Garner, an African-American, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.
The 43-year-old Garner, who was asthmatic, died of asphyxiation. The medical examiner classified the death as a homicide and said the chokehold was a factor.
The July 17 episode was caught on video and the lack of charges in the case provoked large protests in New York and across the nation, though so far there has been none of the violence that was seen in Ferguson, Missouri, last week after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
Both President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have said they are committed to improving trust between police and minority communities.
source
Unarmed Black Suspect Killed by Police in Phoenix
WASHINGTON – A white police officer in Phoenix fatally shot an unarmed African-American man suspected of selling drugs.The death of 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon occurred Tuesday night during a scuffle with the unnamed officer, who was responding to a report about someone selling drugs out of an SUV.
The officer approached the SUV and ordered Brisbon to show his hands, according to a statement from Phoenix police.
Instead of complying, Brisbon, who was alone, jumped out of the vehicle and fled inside a nearby apartment building.
A struggle ensued when the officer caught up with the suspect.
At one point, Brisbon, an ex-convict, stuck a hand in his pocket and the officer, in grabbing for the suspect’s hand, felt what he thought was the handle of a gun.
The officer, police said, repeatedly instructed Brisbon to keep his hand in his pocket and when the suspect ignored the order, the officer shot him twice in the torso.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The object the 30-year-old officer thought was a gun turned out to be a bottle of oxycodone bills. A search of Brisbon’s vehicle turned up a semi-automatic handgun and a container of what appeared to be marijuana.
An attorney for Brisbon’s family, Marci Kratter, told media outlets that she has been in touch with witnesses whose accounts of the incident contradict the version provided by police.
The Phoenix shooting came a day before a grand jury in New York City decided not to charge a white police officer for applying a chokehold while trying to detain Eric Garner, an African-American, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.
The 43-year-old Garner, who was asthmatic, died of asphyxiation. The medical examiner classified the death as a homicide and said the chokehold was a factor.
The July 17 episode was caught on video and the lack of charges in the case provoked large protests in New York and across the nation, though so far there has been none of the violence that was seen in Ferguson, Missouri, last week after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.
Both President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have said they are committed to improving trust between police and minority communities.
source
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