x09:

[TW: death, murder, police brutality, police killing, explicit footage]

la-xingada:

criticaltheoryclub:

Mar. 1st, 2015

Anthony Blackburn
“Homeless man just killed by police minutes ago downtown L.A.”

Original Video can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1009126519115252

Jesus Christ. 

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A few hours ago, LAPD shot and killed a man, identified as Africa, in front of the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row.

They tasered and shot him a couple of times while four cops held him down. They then had the audacity of handcuffing his lifeless body.

There is immediate action happening RIGHT NOW at 5th and San Pedro

and others have called an action tonight at 9pm at Pershing Square

 People will protest on Tuesday at the Los Angeles headquarters: 100 W First St, Los Angeles, California 90012

Event FB page

Rest in Power Africa

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Ok, so before everyone jumps on the racism bandwagon, we have to actually analyze what happened. First. we don’t have context as to what occured before the altercation, there is a chance that there was a lethal weapon involved with the man who is now deceased. Second, we hear an officer in the video yelling “Drop that gun, drop that gun!” if indeed the man had a gun and pointed it at officers, the use of deadly force would be justified however a gun cannot be seen in the video. Third, there are obviously a ton of witnesses and other video evidence from squad car dash cams pointed in that direction.

It’s important not to jump to conclusions about a situation from only one angle, as more details become available, public conclusions may be drawn and  action may be taken. That being said, it’s important to be patient and trust the investigation system for the time being. There is a chance that this could be handled poorly in the near future, in which case a public reaction would be justified. But as of now, there is no need to protest as you would be doing so under a huge level of assumption. 

*allow me to play devil’s advocate here, I don’t want people to get up in arms about something before they even know what the situation was.