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<h1><a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/12/3601771/people-police-killed-in-2014/">Who
Police Killed In 2014</a></h1>
<p class="timestamp"> <span class="byline"> by <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/?person=ctownes">Carimah Townes</a><a
href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=CarimahWheat"><img
src="cid:part3.05010405.05040006@freedomarchives.org"
class="twitter-bird"></a> & <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/?person=dpetrohilos">Dylan
Petrohilos</a><a
href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=dpetrohilos"><img
src="cid:part3.05010405.05040006@freedomarchives.org"
class="twitter-bird"></a></span> <span class="posted-on">Posted
on <time class="published" datetime="December 12, 2014 at 11:40
am">December 12, 2014 at 11:40 am</time> <time class="updated"
datetime="December 13, 2014 at 9:02 am">Updated: December 13,
2014 at 9:02 am<br>
<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/12/3601771/people-police-killed-in-2014/">http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/12/3601771/people-police-killed-in-2014/</a></small></small></small></b><br>
</time></span></p>
<p>In the months since Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer
Darren Wilson on August 9, demonstrators have marched, set up
street blockades, shut down highways, and faced off against the
very police officers they want brought to justice. Grand jury
decisions not to indict Wilson, or the NYPD officer who choked
Eric Garner to death on film, have sparked what may be a tipping
point for people exhausted with the number of deaths at the hands
of law enforcement. </p>
<p>Sadly, we know Brown and Garner were just one of many people who
died at the hands of police this year. But a <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/12/3470313/justice-race-and-michael-brown/">dearth
of national data</a> on fatalities caused by police makes it
difficult to pinpoint the exact number of deaths. <a
href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/data-shows-1000-people-killed-cops-2014/">One
site put the total at 1,039.</a> </p>
<span id="trigger-slidedown"></span>
<p>What we do know is that police-related deaths follow certain
patterns. A 2012 study found that <a
href="http://www.pressherald.com/interactive/maine_police_deadly_force_series_day_1/">about
half of those killed by the police each year are mentally ill</a>,
a problem that the Supreme Court <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/02/3598052/the-supreme-court-agreed-to-hear-a-case-about-police-shootings-of-those-with-mental-illness/">will
consider 2015</a>. Young black men are also <a
href="http://www.propublica.org/article/deadly-force-in-black-and-white">21
times more likely</a> to be killed by cops than young white men,
according to one ProPublica analysis of the data we have. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also compiled data
which shows that <a href="http://www.cjcj.org/news/8113">people
of color</a> are most likely to be killed by cops overall. In
short, people who belong to marginalized communities are at a
higher risk of being shot than those who are not. </p>
<center>
<div class="photo-box aligncenter" style="width:525px"><img
src="cid:part14.09040501.01000802@freedomarchives.org"
alt="don't shoot">
<p class="photo-credit">CREDIT: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention</p>
</div>
</center>
<div id="ad_zone4"> </div>
<p>Below is a list of 21 people of color and/or mentally ill persons
who were killed by cops in 2014. Some cases are more clear-cut
than others, but all of them raise questions about the use of
force — like shooting to kill — in policing. They also prompt
scrutiny of how cops confront people with mental illnesses: </p>
<p><strong>1. Darrien Hunt; Saratoga Springs, UT:</strong> Hunt was
<a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/29/3585753/black-man-killed-by-utah-police-for-carrying-toy-sword-was-shot-6-times-in-the-back-autopsy-finds/">shot
six times</a> and killed after someone reported a man with a
suspicious sword. Hunt, who had a fascination with Japanese anime
characters, was carrying a toy sword. A recent autopsy report
found the shots hit him in the back, suggesting he was running
away from police on the scene. </p>
<p><strong>2. Ezell Ford; Los Angeles, CA:</strong> In what was
described as “<a
href="http://ktla.com/2014/08/12/man-hospitalized-after-being-shot-by-police-in-south-l-a/">an
execution</a>” by family members, Ford was unarmed when LAPD
shot him last August. Officers stopped him on the street, in
response to a possible officer-involved shooting. One witness
contends that officers beat the 25-year-old disabled man while
saying “shoot him.” Others maintain that Ford was laying on the
ground when he was shot. </p>
<p><strong>3. Omar Abrego; Los Angeles, CA:</strong> Abrego died a
mere four blocks from where Ezell Ford was shot. A father of
three, Abrego was <a
href="http://ktla.com/2014/08/14/lapd-officers-fatally-beat-father-during-traffic-stop-a-week-before-ezell-ford-shooting-family-says/">beaten
to death by LAPD after a car chase</a> last August. Witnesses
allege that officers punched Abrego in the face continuously, and
also hit him with a baton. </p>
<p><strong>4. Tamir E. Rice; Cleveland, OH:</strong> Police
responded to a 911 call about a boy with a gun in the park. Within
seconds of arriving at the park, <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/28/3597546/officers-who-shot-12-year-old-holding-toy-gun-refused-to-give-him-first-aid/">police
opened fire, killing the 12-year-old</a> who had been holding a
toy gun. Officers on the scene refused to administer first aid for
four minutes, and left him laying on the ground. They <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/08/3600910/after-tamir-rice-was-shot-cleveland-police-allegedly-handcuffed-his-14-year-old-sister/">allegedly
handcuffed his 14-year-old sister</a>. </p>
<p><strong>5. Tanesha Anderson; Cleveland, OH:</strong> Anderson, a
schizophrenic and bipolar women, died after police allegedly <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/19/3593628/how-did-this-unarmed-schizophrenic-woman-get-killed-by-cleveland-police/">slammed
her onto the pavement</a> outside her family’s home. Officers
had approached Anderson after a caller reported her for
“disturbing the peace.” Police claim that they planned to take her
to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, and that she went
limp in an officer’s arms. But Anderson’s brother and daughter
deny the cops’ story and contend that the 37-year-old was slammed
to the ground. </p>
<p><strong>6. Rumain Brisbon; Phoenix, AZ:</strong> Brisbon was
killed earlier this month, after an <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/05/3600031/white-cop-shoots-unarmed-black-man-holding-pill-bottle/">officer
mistook a pill bottle for a gun</a>. The officer approached
Brisbon’s car after someone reported a drug deal happening near
the vehicle. When asked to raise his hands, Brisbon put them in
his pockets. A quick chase on foot ensued after the officer pulled
out a weapon. There was a brief scuffle when the cop caught up to
Brisbon, during which the latter reached into his pocket. The
officer shot him, and explained later that he thought he felt a
gun in the pocket. The perceived gun was actually a pill bottle. </p>
<p><strong>7. John Crawford III; Beavercreek, OH:</strong> Crawford
was <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/24/3571699/grand-jury-wont-charge-cops-in-wal-mart-killing-even-as-video-reveals-victim-never-pointed-his-gun/">shot
by police officers in a Walmart</a>, who were responding to a
911 call about an armed man. The caller, who originally stated
that Crawford was pointing the gun at people, changed his
statement later on. In a video released after the incident,
Crawford was walking down a store aisle while holding a BB gun
that he was buying for his children, and then swung it over his
shoulder. All the while, he was talking on a phone and looking at
the shelves. Officers descended upon him and fired two shots. </p>
<p><strong>8. Keith Vidal; Southport, NC:</strong> Police responded
to a 911 call for assistance from the parents of Vidal, a
schizophrenic 18-year-old, who was in the middle of an episode.
Although Vidal picked up a screwdriver, two officers were able to
calm him down. But the situation turned deadly when a third cop
tased the teenager shortly thereafter. That officer allegedly <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/07/3126391/north-carolina-police-shoot-schizophrenic-teen/">said
“we don’t have time for this” before shooting</a> and killing
Vidal on the spot. </p>
<p><strong>9. Kajieme Powell; St. Louis, MO:</strong> Just days
later and a few miles away from where Mike Brown was shot,
officers <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/19/3473247/police-officers-involved-in-fatal-st-louis-shooting/">gunned
down Kajieme Powell</a>, who had stolen energy drinks and
pastries from a convenience store. Officers said they shot Powell
after he approached them wielding a knife with an “overhand grip,”
and that he was within three or four feet of them. But video from
a cell phone showed the 25-year-old standing farther away and with
his hands by his sides. </p>
<p><strong>10. Akai Gurley; Brooklyn, NY:</strong> A police officer
<a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/25/3596489/how-many-other-michael-browns/">accidentally
shot Gurley</a>, who was walking down a dark flight of stairs.
The officer fired his gun while he was performing a vertical
patrol, and <a
href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/exclusive-texted-union-rep-akai-gurley-lay-dying-article-1.2034219">texted
a union rep as Gurley was dying</a>. Police Chief Bill Bratton
confirmed that Gurley was a “total innocent.”</p>
<p><strong>11. Eric Garner; Staten Island, NY:</strong> NYPD
officers stopped Garner, who was selling untaxed cigarettes, on
the sidewalk. The encounter turned deadly when Officer Daniel
Pantaleo put Garner, an asthmatic, in an <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/03/3599335/what-went-wrong-in-staten-island/">illegal
chokehold</a>. Garner repeatedly said ‘I can’t breathe’ before
dying on the scene. The entire incident was caught on camera, but
a grand jury decision refused to indict the officer. </p>
<p><strong>12. Mike Brown; Ferguson, MO:</strong> Brown was <a
href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/15/3592738/ferguson-encounter-ninety-seconds/">shot
by Officer Darren Wilson</a>, after the police stopped him and
friend Dorian Johnson, who were walking in the street. After he
stopped them, Wilson realized that Brown matched the description
of a suspected thief who the officer was trying to find. Wilson
claimed there was a physical altercation, and that Brown tried to
grab his gun and charged at him. Witnesses say Brown was running
away with his hands up when the officer shot him. Police kept the
body in the street for 4.5 hours. A grand jury chose not to indict
Wilson.</p>
<p><strong>13. Michelle Cusseaux; Phoenix, AZ:</strong> Frances
Garrett called Southwest Behavioral Health Services to transport
her 50-year-old daughter, Michelle Cusseaux, to an in-patient
facility. Cusseaux, who was schizophrenic, bipolar, and had
depression, was showing signs of threatening behavior. But when
officers came to take her away, the incident escalated. Cusseaux
threatened them with a hammer, and was <a
href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/08/16/phoenix-shooting-family-questions-police-force-abrk/14176405/">shot
in her home</a> when she wouldn’t put it down. Later Garrett
said, “They knew (who) they were going to work with — a person
with a mental illness. You don’t come with guns drawn, guns at her
door. I’m sure it frightened her.”</p>
<p><strong>14. Jack Jacquez; Rocky Ford, CO:</strong> When Jacquez
returned home after babysitting with a friend, officers showed up
unexpectedly and burst into the home. According to his sister in
law, Jacquez was standing next to his mom with his back to the
cops, when Officer James Ashby <a
href="http://www.krdo.com/news/police-investigating-situation-in-rocky-ford/29079600">shot
him two times</a>. His fiance was woken up by gun shots. Details
haven’t emerged about why officers were at the house.</p>
<p><strong>15. Jason Harrison; Dallas, TX:</strong> When Harrison’s
mother dialed 911, she was seeking help for her son who had
bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. But the officers who responded
to the call <a
href="http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Dallas-Police-Fatally-Shoot-Man-With-Mental-Health-Behaviors-263163621.html">shot
and killed Harrison</a> on the front porch of his mother’s home,
when he didn’t obey orders to put a screwdriver down. Police
claimed Harrison was acting aggressively, but the victim’s family
filed a <a
href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/11/jason_harrison_dallas_police_department_officer-involved_shooting_mentally_ill_lawsuit_wrongful_deat.php">lawsuit
stating that excessive force</a> was used. Harrison’s father
also alleges that cops were previously called to subdue the
victim. Video of the shooting, recorded by a body cam, has not
been released to the public. </p>
<p><strong>16. Yvette Smith; Bastrop County, TX:</strong> Police
were called to a house where a disturbance call was placed,
although a dispatcher misinformed them that the disturbance was
about a gun. Officers allege that people inside the house ignored
demands to step out of the home. The Sheriff’s Department
originally said that Smith eventually opened the door with a gun
in her hand and refused to listen to orders, <a
href="http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/06/18/twin-sister-of-woman-killed-by-bastrop-county-deputy-grateful-for-indictment/10814443/">which
is when Deputy Daniel Willis shot her in her abdomen and hip</a>.
But the department backtracked on the gun claim hours later.
Witnesses say the disturbance call was <a
href="http://kxan.com/2014/08/22/family-of-woman-shot-killed-by-bastrop-county-sheriffs-deputy-seeks-damages/">about
money and not a gun</a>, and that Smith was compliant. The
47-year-old woman died at the hospital, and Willis was indicted
for murder.</p>
<p><strong>17. Louis Rodriguez; Oklahoma City, OK:</strong> Police
were called about a domestic dispute between a mother and
daughter, but wound up killing the father outside of a movie
theater. Rodriguez was trying to calm his wife down when he was
approached by police and security guards from the theater.
Officers <a
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-man-beaten-to-death-by-cops-family-says/">began
to beat him</a> when, in an attempt to stop his wife from
driving away, Rodriguez bypassed the officers. Although an autopsy
conducted by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office
concluded that the victim <a
href="http://kfor.com/2014/09/16/new-evidence-set-to-be-announced-in-moore-movie-theater-death/">died
from “cardiac arrhythymia due to physical constraint,”</a> a
private autopsy concluded that he died of asphyxia as a result of
a maneuver that restricted his breathing. The daughter, Lunahi
Rodriguez, recorded the incident. </p>
<p><strong>18. Matthew Pollow; Palm Beach, FL:</strong> Police were
called to investigate an “armed disturbance,” when they approached
Matthew Pollow standing next to a car. Pollow complied when he was
ordered to remove everything from his pockets. Then Deputy Evan
Rosenthal drew his weapon, alleging that the victim looked “very
disturbed.” Pollow, who had a history of mental illness, grabbed a
screwdriver and charged at the officer. Rosenthal <a
href="http://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/boca-raton/matthew-pollow-family-of-boca-raton-screwdriver-wielding-man-shot-by-pbso-deputy-questions-killing">shot
Pollow</a>, who died at the scene.</p>
<p><strong>19. Dontre D. Hamilton; Milwaukee, WI:</strong> Hamilton,
a 31-year-old schizophrenic man, was sleeping in a park when
Officer Christopher Manney approached him for a standard welfare
check. After assessing that Hamilton was mentally ill, Manney
approached him from the back and started to pat him down. The two
exchanged punches before, Manney eventually used his baton to hit
the victim in the neck. Manney then <a
href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a9dc794668714103b563c4fe0fa615f3/milwaukee-police-fire-officer-who-shot-man-park">shot
Hamilton 14 times</a>. Chief Edward Flynn of Milwaukee said that
Manney disregarded police policy after correctly determining that
Hamilton was mentally unstable. “You don’t go hands-on and start
frisking somebody only because they appear to be mentally ill,”
said Flynn. </p>
<p><strong>20. David Latham; Northfolk, VA:</strong> According to
Latham’s family, his mother and sister called 911 when he
threatened his brother with a knife. Latham had stopped taking his
medication for schizophrenia, which explained his behavior. When
he didn’t immediately put down his knife, an officer <a
href="http://hamptonroads.com/2014/06/activist-norfolk-police-shot-mentally-ill-man-nine-times#">shot
Latham, who was standing in a doorway</a>, nine times. </p>
<p><strong>21. Maria Godinez; Orlando, FL:</strong> Officer Eduardo
Sanguino <a
href="http://www.wftv.com/news/news/woman-killed-officer-and-suspect-injured-during-sh/ng5Jj/">accidentally
shot and killed Godinez</a>, a 22-year-old college student. The
officer was shooting at Kody Roach, who was a caller reported for
waiving a gun outside of a bar. Police attempted to tase Roach,
but that didn’t work. And when Roach turned around, Sanguino shot
his firearm nine times. Godinez was inside when she was hit by a
stray bullet. </p>
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