LUMPENPROLETARIAT—[29 MAY 2015, Waldo Heights Apartments, Troost Wall, Kansas City, Missouri] During the UMKC Fall 2014 semester, I took a course on Law & Economics with Professor Bill Black. I asked Professor Black whether he viewed police terrorism, cops beating and killing unarmed people with impunity, as a worsening problem. Surprisingly, he said no. He only perceived an increasing visibility of police abuses and police terrorism. We hope this is the case. Toward that end, resisting police terrorism, we are compiling a list of unarmed Americans, neighbors, friends, brothers, mothers, fathers, sisters, and cousins murdered by police with impunity. Below is a partial list of unarmed human beings killed by cops and other acts of police state terrorism in the USA.
Messina
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Relevant websites:
- Killed By Police – 2015, http://killedbypolice.net/
- Lists of killings by USA law enforcement, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States
- Innocent Down, http://www.innocentdown.org/
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A BRIEF TIMELINE OF POLICE TERRORISM
JANUARY 2023:
- Tyre Deandre Nichols (brutally beaten, 7 JAN 2023; died due to “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating”, 10 JAN 2023; aged 29)
- “‘Extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating’: Tyre Nichols preliminary autopsy results: Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to preliminary results of an independent autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.” by CNN, CNN.com, accessed 28 JAN 2023. [video, 4min 34sec] [L0]
- “Tyre Nichols’ brutal killing proves America’s addiction to specialized police units has to end” by The Real News Network [via YouTube], 28 JAN 2023. [video, 14min 41sec]
- “Death of Tyre Nichols” by anonymous/staff, Wikipedia, accessed 28 JAN 2023. [R0]
SEPTEMBER 2016:
- pending
AUGUST 2016:
- Jesse Romero (killed, 9 AUG 2016; aged 14):
- “Officer fatally shoots a person in South L.A. after an emotional Police Commission meeting” by Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times, 16 AUG 2016, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/.
- “Family of 14-year old boy shot by LAPD calls for release of body cam footage” by Ruben Vives and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 12 AUG 2016, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-jesse-romero-boyle-heights-attorneys-20160812-snap-story.html.
- “Suspect shot dead by police in Boyle Heights was 14-year-old boy, coroner says” by Veronica Rocha and Brittney Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 10 AUG 2016, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-shooting-boyle-heights-20160810-snap-story.html.
MARCH 2016:
DECEMBER 2015:
- Mario Woods (killed, 2 DEC 2015, aged 26):
- “Beyoncé back up dancers held ‘Justice 4 Mario Woods’ sign at Super Bowl”, by Evan Sernoffsky, SF Gate, 7 FEB 2016.
- “The Shooting of Mario Woods Brings Ferguson to San Francisco, Activists Say” by Katy Steinmetz, Time, 16 DEC 2016.
- “SFPD Shooting Of Mario Woods ‘Could Have Ended Differently If We Had Tasers’ Says Chief” by Caleb Pershan, SFist, 7 DEC 2015.
- “List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, December 2015”, Wikipedia, accessed 18 AUG 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States,_December_2015.
APRIL 2015:
- Walter Scott (killed, 4 APR 2015, aged 50):
- “The Shooting of Walter Scott”, Wikipedia, accessed 29 MAY 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott
- Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr. (killed, age 25, 12 APR 2015):
- “Death of Freddie Gray”, Wikipedia, accessed 29 MAY 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray
FEBRUARY 2015:
- Yuvette Henderson (killed, 3 FEB 2015):
- Messina, “The Killing of Yuvette Henderson (3 FEB 2015)”, Lumpenproletariat, April 16, 2015, https://lumpenproletariat.org/2015/04/16/police-state-update-the-killing-of-yvette-henderson-3-feb-2015/
NOVEMBER 2014:
- Tamir Rice (killed, 22 NOV 2014, aged 12):
- “Shooting of Tamir Rice”, Wikipedia, accessed May 29, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Tamir_Rice
OCTOBER 2014:
- Laquan McDonald (killed, 20 OCT 20 2014, aged 17)
- “Shooting of Laquan McDonald”, Wikipedia, accessed 23 MAR 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Laquan_McDonald
- George Von King, Jr. (killed):
- VonDeritt Meyers (killed, 8 OCT 2014, aged 18):
- Trymaine Lee, “Why Vonderrit Meyers Matters”, MSNBC, October 18, 2014, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/why-vonderrit-myers-matters
- Christine Byers, “No charges against St. Louis officer who killed VonDeritt Meyers”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 18, 2015, http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/no-charges-against-st-louis-officer-who-killed-vonderrit-myers/article_5641ecfd-4b37-54c1-b717-1a7d84500892.html
- Aamer Madhani, “No Charges in VonDerrit Meyers Shooting in St. Louis”, USA Today, May 18, 2015, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/05/18/no-charges-vonderrit-myers-shooting-st-louis/27550017/
AUGUST 2014:
- Michael Brown (killed, 9 AUG 2014, aged 18):
- “The Shooting of Michael Brown”, Wikipedia, accessed May 29, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown
JULY 2014:
- Eric Garner (killed, 17 JUL 2014, aged 43):
- “Death of Eric Garner”, Wikipedia, accessed May 29, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner
MARCH 2014:
- James Boyd (killed, 16 MAR 2014, aged 38)
- “Camping in Albuquerque: The Killing of James Boyd by Police Gunfire”, Lumpenproletariat, accessed June 7, 2015, https://lumpenproletariat.org/2015/06/06/police-shoot-homeless-man-camping-in-albuquerque-16-mar-2015/
NOVEMBER 2013:
- Renisha McBride (killed, 2 NOV 2013, aged 19)
- Wiki.
JULY 2013:
- Tyrone West (killed, 18 JUL 2016, aged 44)
- “A year after Freddie Gray, families of others killed by police still seek justice”, The Guardian, accessed July 23, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/17/freddie-gray-tyrone-west-anthony-anderson-balitmore-police
MARCH 2012:
- Rekia Boyd (killed, 21 MAR 2012, aged 22)
- Wiki.
MAY 2011:
- Calvin Cross (killed, 11 MAY 2011, aged 19)
- “Chicago Pays Millions but Punishes Few in Killings by Police“, The New York Times, December 17, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/us/chicago-pays-millions-but-punishes-few-in-police-killings.html
MAY 2010:
- Aiyana Jones (killed, 16 MAY 2010, aged 7)
JANUARY 2009:
- Oscar Grant (killed, 1 JAN 2009, aged 22):
- Ken Peeples, “‘Black On Black’ Violence: The Ultimate Red-Herring”, Media Roots, January 7, 2015, http://mediaroots.org/black-on-black-violence-the-ultimate-red-herring/
- “BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant”, Wikipedia, accessed May 29, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant
- Adolph Grimes III (killed, 1 JAN 2009):
- Sean Callebs and Jason Morris, “Family wants police charged in New Orleans killing”, CNN, January 9, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/09/new.orleans.shooting/
- January 5, 2014, Adolph Grimes III (killed, 1 JAN 2009):
- Sean Callebs and Jason Morris, “Family wants police charged in New Orleans killing”, CNN, January 9, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/09/new.orleans.shooting/
- Brendan McCarthy, “NOPD investigation into Adolph Grimes shooting death completed, cops cleared”, The Times-Picayune, June 2, 2009, http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/nopd_investigation_into_adolph.html
- LaTonya Norton, “FBI completes investigation after NOPD officers shot, killed man”, WDSU News, January 5, 2014, http://www.wdsu.com/article/fbi-completes-investigation-after-nopd-officers-shot-killed-man/3368060
DECEMBER 2008:
- Robbie Tolan (killed, 24 MAY 1990, aged 23):
- “Robbie Tolan shooting incident”, Wikipedia, accessed December 20, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Tolan_shooting_incident
MAY 1990:
- Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney (car bombed, 24 MAY 1990):
- “Judi Bari”, Wikipedia, accessed May 29, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Bari
MAY 1985:
- MOVE Organization (air bombed, 13 MAY 1985):
- N.B.: Since the 1978 Shootout, the MOVE organisation had been resisting political repression by the state. This, ultimately, led to an armed standoff, which ended with the air bombing of the MOVE Organization’s residence in a residential neighbourhood of Philadelphia.
- Martha T. Moore, “1985 bombing in Philadelphia still unsettled”, USA Today, May 11, 2005, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-05-11-philadelphia-bombing_x.htm
DECEMBER 1969:
- Fredrick Allen Hampton, Sr. (assassinated whilst sleeping/drugged with secobarbitol by FBI informant William O’Neal, 4 DEC 1969):
- “Fred Hampton”, by anonymous/staff, Wikipedia, accessed 28 JAN 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton
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[Last modified/edited/updated on 28 JAN 2023 at 14:00 PST.]
Lumpenproletariat 