US police killed at least 325 people in the 102 days from 1 January to 12 April 2015—at a rate of over three per day. The victims of these police shootings are very disproportionately people of color.
Racism, and even overt, violent white supremacy, has been well documented among the US police force. In Ferguson, Missouri, Americans rose up against the constant police killings of unarmed black teens; the Black Lives Matter contemporary civil rights movement emerged out of this.
Rarely are cops even indicted for killing Americans, yet alone punished. In fact, they often claim that they themselves are victims.
Dante Servin, the Chicago cop who killed Rekia Boyd, an unarmed 22-year-old black woman, was one of the few cops who faced charges for murdering an innocent person. He shot Boyd in 2012, so it took three years before a court finally acted, but it did happen.
On 20 April 2015, that court found Servin not guilty of all charges.
The courtroom erupted in protest. Four people were arrested, including Martinez Sutton, the late Rekia Boyd’s own brother.
MONDAY: 1:30pm trial of Dante Servin, the Chicago cop who killed #RekiaBoyd, continues in room 606, 2600 S California pic.twitter.com/fe7RwHUuLL
— Chicago Rising (@ChicagoRising) April 20, 2015
Horrifying. #DanteServin NOT GUILTY on all charges. Courtroom erupted into fight. Likely arrests. We were all violently shoved out the bldg.
— daney (@daneyvilla) April 20, 2015
4 people arrested, including Martinez Sutton, #RekiaBoyd‘s brother. They likely will be charged with Contempt of Court.
— daney (@daneyvilla) April 20, 2015
Martinez, #RekiaBoyd‘s brother, just exited the building, surrounded by cops as people weep. #DanteServin pic.twitter.com/c3RaNlhVP2
— daney (@daneyvilla) April 20, 2015
Martinez Sutton: “This tells us that cops can get away with shooting any one of you.” #RekiaBoyd #danteservin pic.twitter.com/RM9POQNVmd
— daney (@daneyvilla) April 20, 2015
Here is why we can’t celebrate when officers are just CHARGED. Detective who shot #RekiaBoyd in the back of the head just found not-guilty.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 20, 2015
Being black in America is watching your sisters murderer walk free because he’s a cop, then getting arrested for your reaction #RekiaBoyd
— Rebecca Pierce (@aptly_engineerd) April 20, 2015
Similarly, the only person indicted over the police killing of unarmed innocent man Eric Garner by chokehold-induced suffocation was Ramsey Orta, the young man who filmed it. In the wake of the release of the video, cops harassed and arrested Orta for minor alleged crimes.
Orta’s family claimed he was innocent, and that police were only targeting him because he filmed them murdering Eric Garner. The police responded by going after Orta’s family.
In the US Justice System, victims of police brutality do not receive justice; instead, their family members are punished for having the temerity to care about their lost loved ones.