10/7/14                               Blog post 2

For my second blogpost I looked at a Huffington Post report on the shooting of 25-year old black man, Kajieme Powell in St. Louis, Missouri. Like many that have been prevalent in the news lately this case demonstrates unethical practice and reasoning by law enforcement, consequently resulting in the taken life of Kaijieme Powell. The owner of the convenience store where Powell had purchased donuts and drinks, called the police accusing Powell of robbery. Shortly after the police received another call from a woman reporting that Powell was acting “erratically” with a knife in his pocket.

Sam Dotson, St.Louis Police Chief addressed the media claiming that Powell came within a few feet of the officers that opened fire. While approaching the officers, he reportedly held a knife “in an overhand grip”. Powell was apparently given verbal commands to stop and drop the weapon, but he continued forward, shouting “shoot me now, kill me now”. Dotson also claims that the officers did not draw their weapons until they saw the knife.

Well, the whole incident was captured on camera by someones cell phone. I saw Powell walking with no knife, with his hands at his side. He was much farther away from the officers than just a few feet. And he was shot multiple times. I got chills watching these St. Louis police offers murder a non-threatening man in cold blood. So the video evidence does not line up with Dotson’s information.

Even if the officers felt threatened shooting him multiple times is inhuman if you can kill with one bullet. But after watching the video it is clear that there was no need to draw a weapon, if anything a teaser or pepper spray would have been suitable.

I was deeply disturbed by this video. Watching a man get shot in real footage is numbing. Law enforcement has a long way to come. It has equal responsibility to all citizens in the United States. I continue to realize how lucky I am when I appear before a police officer.