Kuanchung Kao and Atatiana Jefferson lived on opposite sides of the country and died 22 years apart. They were both professionals in STEM fields. Atatiana had a biology degree from Xavier University and worked in pharmaceutical equipment sales; Kuanchung was a microbiologist working in quality control. Both lost their lives after neighbors summoned police to their residences.
A neighbor had called police to check on an open door at Atatiana's home. Police came around to her backyard. When Atatiana Jefferson came to the window to check on the noise in the backyard, she was shot within seconds. Kuanchung Kao was a less perfect victim. He was yelling intoxicatedly and waving a stick on his front lawn in the early hours of the morning after encountering racist microaggressions at a bar some hours earlier. Neighbors called the police to report a drunken disturbance. As in Tatiana Jefferson's case, a responding police officer shot Kao promptly, without making an effort to de-escalate.
Kuanchung's wife Ayling Wu was outside with her husband, trying to calm him down and get the stick out of his hand when a police officer told her to step away. To her surprise, he shot and killed her husband when she complied. Similarly, Darleen Tareeq witnessed the police killing of her fiancé Philip Quinn while she was standing outside their residence with him. Their child was also present.
Philip Quinn's mother had summoned police to help her schizophrenic son, who was suffering from a psychotic episode. He was killed when he allegedly ran at the police officers with a screwdriver. Walter Wallace too was killed in front of his family's home after his brother had called police during Walter's mental health crisis. Walter Wallace's mother was outside with her bipolar son, trying to calm him down. Walter was shot in front of his mother after ignoring police orders to put down the knife that he was holding.
Like Walter Wallace, Brandon Lawrence was shot and killed by police outside his home when he did not respond to their orders to put down the machete that he was holding. Lawrence, an Army veteran, suffered from PTSD and paranoia. As in Kuanchung Kao's case, police officers came to Lawrence's residence in response to a disturbance call. Brandon Lawrence's wife felt that her husband "really wasn't given a chance" by the responding officers.
Like Walter Wallace, Meagan Hockaday was killed when she allegedly advanced on police with a blade. Hockaday's fiance had called police to report a domestic dispute. Like Kuanchung Kao, Meagan Hockaday left 3 children. In a smilar incident, Cau Bich Tran was fatally shot in her apartment, in front of her partner, when she allegedly moved towards police officers with a vegetable peeler. Cau had a history of mental illness. She left a son behind.
Miles Hall's family, like Philip Quinn's and Water Wallace's families, had called police to help with their family member's mental health episode. Miles Hall was shot and killed while running down the street with an iron rod. His family maintains that he was not charging at the officers, but rather trying to run back to the family home.
Quintonio LeGrier had called the police to the apartment while he was having a mental health crisis. He was shot and killed when he ignored orders to put down a baseball bat. His neighbor Bettie Jones, who had opened her apartment door to direct the police, was also killed in the barrage of bullets.
Like Quintonio LeGrier, Lashonn White became a victim of police violence after calling the police for assistance. The deaf woman had summoned police to remove an aggressive visitor from her home. Like Bettie Jones, she went out to meet the officers, thinking that they were there to help, not hurt. The responding officers immediately assumed that White was the perpetrator, not the victim. She was tased and wrongfully arrested. An injured Lashonn White languished in jail for days without access to an interpreter. A federal jury awarded her $1 for the violation of her rights. The Martinez family of Denver, CO, fared somewhat better in court. Years after they were assaulted by officers in their own home , the Martinezes were awarded $1.6M. A few weeks after the Martinez family moved into their residence, officers raided the address looking for drug dealers who previously lived there. After finding out that Mr Martinez and his 3 sons were not the people that they were looking for, the officers arrested all of them on interference or misdemeanor assault charges which were later dismissed, or for which they were later acquitted.
During another botched drug raid in GA , 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh was severely injured by a flash bang grenade. His face was torn down to the bone and his left lung collapsed . At that time, baby Bounkham's famiy was staying temporarily with his paternal aunt after losing their home to a fire. The SWAT team was looking for his aunt's son, who was not at the residence when the "no-knock" warrant was executed. The suspect was arrested later without a “no-knock” warrant and without a SWAT team. Baby Bounkham spent 5 weeks in a coma, saddling the family with nearly 1 million in medical bills. They eventually received 3.6M in damages. No one was found criminally liable for the incident.
This list is neither intended to either blame those who were injured or killed, nor to demonize the police officers involved. The circumstances of each case are unique. Mistakes may have been made without malicious intent, but these mistakes cost families dearly. These 13 names belong to Native, Asian, Black, Latino and White people. They include minors, elders and caretakers of minor children. Atatiana had moved in with her mother to take care of her. According to Atatiana's sister Amber, she was like a mother to Amber's son Zion, with whom Atatiana was playing video games before she was killed. Kuanchuang's widow Ayling Wu experienced severe depression and suicidal thoughts while raising the couple's 3 children alone. She never remarried. The police officer who summarily killed her husband invoked a racist stereotype in defense of the killing. He continued to serve in the police department before eventually retiring and moving on to become the mayor of a city.
No comments:
Post a Comment