The Jonathan Ferrell Shooting....And A Few Thoughts
H.D. Campbell
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| Officer Randall Kerrick (left), Jonathan Ferrell (Right) Photo Courtesy WCNC |
Months after the verdict that acquitted George Zimmerman for the murder
of Trayvon Martin, we now must deal with another shooting of an unarmed
black man, Jonathan Ferrell.
Early Saturday morning September 16th, the Florida A & M graduate
crashed into a tree while driving home. As reported, the crash was so
severe, Ferrell had to climb out of the back of the mangled car to get
out. He walked towards the first house he found and started knocking, startling the woman inside. She dials 9-1-1 citing someone was trying to break into her house.
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| Courtesy Huffington Post |
The police come minutes later and Ferrell runs towards the officers
believing he was safe. They first attempt to hit him with a stun gun.
When it proved unsuccessful, Officer Randall Kerrick opened fire
shooting Ferrell ten times killing him. Kerrick was arrested charged
with voluntary manslaughter and released on $50,000 bail. The story wasn't fully told until officers found Ferrell's car.
This is the story but the story doesn't end there. This is not the
first, the second, and not even the third incident of this kind. An
unarmed black man murdered with no provocation. I compared this to the
Trayvon Martin case because there are similarities in how procedure was
handled by authority figures or lack there of. The only difference is
that Ferrell was a 24 year old Florida A & M graduate who played
football for the school. There was no history of trouble or drug/alcohol usage in his system the night of the crash.
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| Courtesy Huffington Post |
This is yet another lesson needing to be learned.by all. We as Black Males
need to learn to proceed with more caution when dealing with police.
Police need to understand that things are not always as they seem and
being Black in a neighborhood isn't against the law. To go further, the
act of shooting first and asking questions later isn't a good policy
either. There needs to be a better system of checks and balances when it comes to engaging individuals especially Black Males.
These so-called cases of mistaken identity need to stop. Even if you
did think Ferrell was a threat, there were other ways of handling it. I
personally know too many people who have been killed by excessive
police fire or know someone who was killed by excessive police fire. To
be clear, I'm not trying to create a divide between the police and
African-Americans. For the most part, when they do their job, the
police are quite efficient and I have nothing but respect for them.
However, I do see the other side. I have been a victim of the other
side. Fortunately, I haven't had to be taken to jail or been in a
situation where they were forced to draw their weapon but I have been
profiled.
My fellow Black Males, a lesson. When stopped, just answer their
questions. You don't have to be nice about it but don't be belligerent.
Use your own authority and get their badge number or name if you can.
When they check you and they're done checking, go and make a report.
It may not seem much at first but enough paperwork can go a long way.
It can make a difference between going home or becoming another
statistic.
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