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7 Stories From Just This Week
By Katie Halper [2]
September 19, 2014
From Ferguson, Missouri to Staten Island, New York, it seems like a new story about police brutality breaks every day. Here are some recent incidents of police violence from around the nation that you may not have heard about. Because honestly, who can keep up?
22-year-old black man police claim they shot in self-defense was actually shot from behind
The two officers who shot and killed 22-year-old Darrien Hunt in Saratoga Springs, Utah, claimed that they acted in self-defense after the young man lunged at them with a samurai sword. This week, the family’s lawyer announced that Hunt’s parents had a private autopsy [3] performed, which determined that Hunt had actually been shot in the back six times from a distance of 100 yards. Witnesses [4] also say Hunt was shot as he was running away from the cops. As the family’s lawyer said, “The shot that killed Darrien, which was straight in the back, did not have an exit wound…. It raises the question as to how you can lunge at someone and be shot in the back at the same time.” Hunt’s mother, who is white, explained why she thinks this happened to her son, who is bi-racial: “They killed my son because he’s black. No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he’s running away.” Less than 5% [5] of the population of Saratoga Springs, a wealthy community 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City, is non-white.
17-year-old is in critical condition after being tased, stepped on and allowed to fall
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How not to shoot civilians [7]
9 community policing tips from a chief who got it right.