Fruitvale Station Essay

There were boycotts of the malls in Baton Rouge, people were marching even holding up traffic. This didn’t only occur in Baton Rouge, but across the U.S. people were standing up for this injustice. Alton Sterling was selling cd in front of a convenience store when two officers approached him, the situation escalated Mr. Sterling was shot several times resulting in his death. Baton Rouge police did not provide much information about what escalated the incident between the officers and Sterling or what prompted an officer to fire his weapon. A witness, however, described police as “aggressive” and said Sterling was armed but was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident. The level of force an officer uses varies based on the situation. Because of this variation, guidelines for the use of force are based on many factors, including the officer’s level of training or experience.

On a Wednesday evening at 9:05pm in Minnesota, an African American couple was driving in their car with a four-year-old daughter in the back seat. After being pulled aside by Joronimo Yanez, a police officer, for a broken tail light, Philando Castile, the driver, stopped his car. Officer Yanez asked Castile for his license and registration. Castile handed the officer his car license and registration, but also told him he has a weapon in his car, for which he was licensed to carry. Officer Yanez immediate words were “Don’t move!” As Castile put his hands up where the officer could clearly see them, officer Yanez shot him repeatedly four times in the arm to the horror of Castile, his girlfriend, and their four-year-old daughter. Completely stupefied by the event, Castile’s girlfriend, Reynolds, took out her phone and began streaming an online video directly to Facebook showing the immediate aftermath of the incident. In the video, Reynolds narrates the accident’s story and exclaimed, “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. Please don’t tell me he’s dead.” While recording, her four-years-old asked “Mammy, I’m scarred!” Reynolds answered, “It’s okay, I’m right here with you.” Officer Yanez returned and ordered Reynolds on her knees out of the car. Still being recorded, the other officers on the scene asked officer Yanez of his mindset, checking if he’s ok, completing ignoring the true victim, Castile. Castile was left bleeding

This paper will be covering the controversial case of the shooting of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. This was a polarizing trial for it pitted gun rights activists against gun-control activists and people who were generally against the new gun rhetoric that is in Florida. George Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch for the gated community and would always do his job diligently. However, one night he witnessed someone in a grey hoodie walking on the sidewalk wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman thought this person was suspicious and continued to follow him. After Zimmerman called in that he was following this individual, he was told not to leave his vehicle. Instead, he followed the person into who knows where and the rest of the story is up for debate. The defense team stated that Trayvon had jumped out of the bushes and begun to attack Zimmerman violently to the point where he felt that his life was in danger. The prosecution believed that Zimmerman had initiated a fight with Trayvon and he was at the mercy of Zimmerman at gunpoint for a significant amount of time.

Paula Austin, addresses police brutality and their relationship with guns. She opens up her discussion by providing us with images of newspaper articles that demonstrate the image of police brutality. She then goes further in depth and illustrates the increase in gun kills demonstrated by the police force. She provides us with statistical data on the increase in deaths caused by police through guns. Moreover, she then draws the connection between police and race. She addresses to us on how African Americans are way more targeted against by police than any other race. She provides us with the most recent example of “ Stephon Clark” an unarmed black man who was killed by police on the notion that he was “armed”. She then examines this event and illustrates the further connection towards guns and

On the night of October 3rd, 1974 at approximately 10:45 p.m. Edward Garner was shot by Officer Hymon in an attempt to stop him from escaping a crime scene. Garner died on the operating table due to the gunshot wound on the back of his head. His crime was burglary and he was found with a mere ten dollars and a purse. The case was argued on October 30th, 1984 and a decision was made on March 27th, 1985. The father of Edward Garner believed his son’s constitutional rights were violated by the defendants Officer Hymon, the Police Department, and the Mayor of the city of Memphis. With a 6-3 decision, the Justices’ decided that Officer Hymon was acting justly under the fourth amendment that states that deadly force is constitutional as long as it is “reasonable”. I believe Officer Hymon was acting in good faith and simply fulfilling his duty to protect the public and stop criminals from escaping punishment.

Oscar is originally from the Dominican Republic, but moved to the United States, specifically New Jersey. To help him deal with the difficult transition, Oscar would read different comic books and imagine as if his life as a comic book and he was the hero. An example would be when Oscar would imagine himself as a superhero helping, who he thought was the love of his life at the time, Ana, from her boyfriend who was quite aggressive with her. Oscar stole his uncle’s gun and went straight to Manny’s, Ana’s boyfriend, apartment building, waiting for him to come home. He did not care what would happen to him he just felt like he had to be the super hero, like the ones in all of the comic book that he reads, to save Ana. The only thing was that Manny never came home that night, and Oscar never went back again. The question is, if Manny did come back would Oscar actually have done something? The thing is I think Oscar wants to be like the superheroes that he reads in his comic books and hope that in the end he gets the girl, but in reality that is not how life works out. I think that Oscar would not have done anything if Manny came back, he is too afraid to do

Walter Scott’s shooting by a police officer in April 2015 defines the racism in the American policing from a new perspective. In the incident, 33-year-old American police officer Michael Slager shot Walter Scott eight times in the back when Scott tried to run away from him. Slager had asked Scott to pull over because of some issues in the taillight of the car. Slager claimed before the court that he had to take this action because Scott had taken away his taser, and he was afraid that Scott might be a threat to his own life. However, later evidence from Feidin Santana, a passerby, revealed to the media a video that Santana had shot at the time of this incident. In this video, it was evident that Slager and Scott indulged in a little brawl before Scott tried to run away. Slager had his taser intact because the video clarifies that while tackling the dead body of Scott, Slager was seen handling his taser - it was not in the victim 's hands. Slager was dismissed with immediate effect from his post, and he was accused of murder (Infobase). The injustice of Walter Scott 's death clearly demonstrates that it is crucial for all police officers to wear body cameras. Police officers in body cameras will prevent violence between officers and civilians, hold officers accountable for inappropriate behavior, and serve as on-hand evidence for future judicial actions.

Beginning in late summer, this country became bombarded with stories in the news about police officers involved in some types of controversy. The controversy that started it all was an incident that happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Since August, there has been much discussion and public debate over whether a police officer’s use of deadly force against an unarmed teenager was justified. On August 9, 2014 a young man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson after he was stopped for walking in the middle of the street. Was the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Missouri an example of police using excessive force? Who decides what force is recommended or when it becomes excessive? To determine both these questions, we first must define what constitutes specific circumstances as excessive force. Officer Darren Wilson was not guilty of using excessive or lethal force if he felt his safety or the safety of others were in danger or if Michael Brown had surrendered peacefully and without resisting arrest.

On page 151 of Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woa, Oscar is portrayed as “You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma Mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of your chest” (Diaz 151). Diaz evokes real world problems by creating characters that are very relatable. Through this statement, Diaz creates in his characterization an American Latino, attempting to find himself and where he belongs in society.

Oscar’s heart was stumbled on another time by Jenni. The girl he met in Rutgers, he thought he loved her but it turns out that she had some other guy on the side. He started attacking her and now people thought of him as a crazy person. This led to him falling into depression, but his roommate Yunior helped him get back on his

The film Fruitvale Station is a true story about a young man named Oscar Grant III. Oscar lived in Hayward California with his long term girlfriend and his young daughter. The film was directed by Ryan Coogler and was first put in the movie theaters in late July of 2013. The star of the film is Micheal B Jordan who also plays in Chronicle, one of my favorite movies. Micheal is a young aspiring actor who has just recently become very popular.

The shooting of African American teenager Michael Brown by white officer Darren Wilson has been a hot topic of debate. Those in support of Michael Brown believe that Darren Wilson racially profiled Brown and that the shooting would have never occurred had Brown been white. Those in support of Darren Wilson state that he acted in self-defense. This argument has more evidence supporting it than the argument that Brown was racially profiled.

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

Excessive force and police brutality have become common terms for anyone keeping up with today’s current events. In 2014, the media covered numerous cases of excessive force that resulted in the deaths of several people of color (Nelson & Staff, 2014). The most widely covered cases by the media in 2014 were of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black male shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri; and Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black male in Staten Island, New York who was put into a choke by police officer Daniel Pantaleo until he lost consciousness and stopped breathing (Nelson & Staff, 2014). These cases brought attention to the seriousness of police brutality and the curiosity of how often it occurs (Brown, 2015).

Police officers don't think before they shoot. “In Charlotte N.C, a black man is pulled over and he gets out his car, but shows his hands and starts walking backward and the officers surround him and four shots are fired.” ( http://www.npr.org). On Feb,26,2012 Trayvon martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, Trayvon Martin was walking back from a convenience store where he bought skittles and candy and an ice tea. (http://www.cbsnews.com/). “In Michigan, a homeless man was caught stealing from a local store and the store called the police and the homeless had a knife and the officer called for backup and then the homeless man moved toward the k-9 dog and he got shot 47 times.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/)