Chamblee54

Police killing unarmed black people continues to be a hot topic. Every once in a while, someone will quote some exact numbers. Finally , curiosity got the best of PG. He went to the Washington Post Police Shootings database. Click on a couple of filters, and you get some answers. As of December 8, 12 black people have been shot to death, by police, in the United States. Here are some more stats about unarmed people shot to death by police.

The WaPo database only counts gunfire deaths. This means that George Floyd is not included here. Another thing to consider is the WaPo decision to count Hispanics as a separate category. In FBI statistics, Hispanic/Latino is considered an ethnicity, rather than a race. Many of the people listed as White/Black/Other are Hispanic/Latino, when using FBI statistics.
Here are the 12 unarmed black people, killed by police this year.
William Howard Green, January 27, 2020, Temple Hills MD
Jaquyn Oneill Light, January 29, 2020, Graham NC
Barry Gedeus, March 6, 2020, F0rt Lauderdale FL
Breonna Taylor, March 12, 2020, Louisville KY
Donnie Sanders, March 12, 2020, Kansas City MO
Mycael Johnson, March 20, 2020, Tallahassee FL
Shaun Fuhr, May 1, 2020, Seattle WA
Maurice Gordon, May 23, 2020, Bass River NJ
Robert D’Lon Harris, June 25, 2020, Vinita OK
Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis, August 7, 2020, Sylvania GA
Anthony Jones, October 12, 2020, Bethel Springs TN
Marcellis Stinnette, October 20, 2020, Waukegan IL
Every case is different. It is tough to draw any overall conclusions. Some of the cases here involve domestic violence complaints, drug use, car chases, and violently resisting arrest. In one, a gf told 911 the victim had fired at her. In another case, police found a pistol in the victim’s car.
It comes down to who’s side of the story you choose. Both police, and family attorneys, have been known to lie. Chamblee54 ran a 29 week series in 2017-18, Killed By Police. Many of the same patterns turn up in these cases. Every case is different.
Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis is noteworthy for being killed in Georgia. In this case, the officer was later charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.
“Jacob Gordon Thompson, 27, is charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the Aug. 7 shooting death of 60-year-old Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis. … The former trooper wrote that he initially pulled behind Lewis on U.S. 301, also known as Statesboro Highway, when he noticed Lewis’ passing car had a darkened tail light. Lewis then sped up, at which point Thompson said he activated his emergency lights. Lewis turned on his hazard signals and motioned with his hand out the driver’s side window but did not stop.”
“I radioed dispatch that I was involved in a pursuit and activated my siren. As I pursued the violator, I observed him start to smoke a cigarette, As we approached the stop sign at the intersection of Simmons Branch Road, Cameron Road and Stoney Pond Road, the violator passed through the intersection and did not come to a complete stop.”
“The former trooper wrote that he decided to use a PIT maneuver to end the pursuit safely as they neared Stoney Pond Road. After Lewis’ car crashed into the ditch, Thompson wrote that he pulled his patrol car even with the stopped Nissan. “Being concerned for my safety, I drew my weapon as I got out of the vehicle, At some point, I heard the engine on the violator’s vehicle revving at a high rate of speed. I activated the light on my weapon and observed the violator with both hands on the steering wheel. I saw him wrenching the steering wheel in an aggressive back and forth manner towards me and my patrol vehicle. It appeared that the violator was trying to use his vehicle to injure me. Being in fear for my life and safety, I discharged my weapon once.”
“On Tuesday, a man who did not identify himself hand delivered two unmarked envelopes to Statesboro Herald reporters. He declined to disclose from where or whom they came. The envelopes contained toxicology reports for Julian Lewis on the night he was killed … (Thompson’s attorney Robert) Persse said he had received official toxicology reports and verified the report states Lewis tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as fluoxetine, an antidepressant.”
Two victims were shot on March 12. Breonna Taylor is well known. The Taylor case has been discussed at great length elsewhere, and remains controversial. While Ms. Taylor was unarmed, the person standing next to her, in a dark apartment, fired at the police.
Donnie Sanders, Kansas City MO is the other case from March 12. Many of the factors that make easy judgment tricky are present in this case.
“… an officer attempted to stop a vehicle near 51st and Prospect for a traffic violation, but the driver didn’t immediately pull over. (KCPD Sgt. Jake) Becchina said the driver … 47-year-old Donnie Sanders, eventually came to a stop in an alley nearby, between Prospect and Wabash. Sanders got out and took off running. He was the only person in the vehicle.”
“Police said as Sanders approached 52nd Street just to the north, he turned toward the officer. Becchina said he allegedly raised his armed like he had a weapon. The officer immediately gave the man multiple verbal commands to drop his weapon and get down on the ground. Police said Sanders did not listen, and the officer eventually shot him. … KCPD has now confirmed after processing the scene, Sanders didn’t have a firearm or any other weapon during his encounter with the officer.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.