Killings of Unarmed Black Men by Police Escalate

Killings of Young, Black, Unarmed Men by Police Escalate

By Editor Raushana Karriem

What do Oscar Grant, Ken Harding and Joetavius Stafford have in common? Answer they were all shot in the back by transit police while either laying or the ground or running from them.

Oscar Grant, a young black father coming home from a night out on New Year’s Eve was laying on his stomach when Bart police officer Johannes Meherle shot him in the back numerous times killing him.

Ken Harding ran away from police in at a San Francisco transit station after being asked to produce a transfer to prove he paid his fare on the train.  He was shot in the back 10 times by police who left him to die in the street and prevented any of the bystanders from helping him.

The latest transit  police killing was of Joetavius Stafford, who ran from police at a transit station inAtlanta.  According to eyewitness accounts, he was shot in the back, fell on the ground and shot 2 more times in the back.   News reports inAtlantaquote the Marta transit police as stating whether he was armed or not, an officer can determine if this was a ‘reasonable’ shooting.

Are these modern day lynchings?  Why don’t these killings happen in white neighborhoods to white people?   How are people who don’t pay their fare handled in white districts?

The San Francisco Bayview a newspaper in the Black section of
San Francisco reported that the police were laughing and enjoying themselves as Kenneth Hardings blood was being cleaned from the streets inSan Francisco,California.

Johannes Meherle the Bart officer who killed Oscar Grant was only given a 2 year sentence, his defense was paid for by a wealthy benefactor and he only served 6 months of his sentence.

No justice for our people.