196

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Timothy_Russell_and_Malissa_Williams – two homeless black people were pulled over for a traffic stop, they were not searched and were let go. As they departed, police claimed they heard shots fired from the vehicle as it passed them (later determined to be a backfire) prompting the beginning of a 22-mile police chase. When Russell eventually pulled into a parking lot, the pair were shot to death by thirteen officers who fired 137 shots at the pair. It's unclear where the pizza comes into it, but police alleged they saw a firearm in the vehicle (none was found).

Mark Venuti: https://wc.arizona.edu/papers/94/108/01_92_m.html – allegedly suicide-by-cop, he was carrying a Bible over his head and after being shot, charged at the officers yelling at them to shoot him again.

Khiel Coppin: https://www.courthousenews.com/brooklyn-mom-of-2-sons-killed-by-police-sues/ – Khiel was mentally ill and allegedly told police he had a gun. Police later also killed his brother in a separate altercation, in apparent retaliation for bad press over the killing of Khiel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Douglas_Zerby – a neighbour mistook the hose nozzle for a gun and called police; officers did not check what he was holding and fired without warning, killing him.

Levar Jones: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/ex-sc-officer-sentenced-for-shooting-man-tells-him-i-screwed-up/101-464504897 – Levar, a black man, was shot and wounded by an officer at a traffic stop while retrieving his licence from his vehicle. His dashcam captured the entire incident. The officer was convicted of aggravated assault and battery and imprisoned for five years, and Levar received a $285,000 settlement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_John_Crawford_III – shot and killed while holding a BB gun, captured on surveillance footage. A second person suffered a fatal heart attack while fleeing from the shooting.

David Loveless: http://www.policebrutality.info/2012/04/man-arrested-for-pointing-finger-at-cops.html – Arrested and charged with two counts of "assault on a law enforcement officer by intimidation" for allegedly pointing his finger like a gun at officers. David denied pointing his fingers at anyone. The officers involved had previously testified against David's son in a robbery case, giving him motive to threaten them. I can't find further information on whether David was convicted of these charges.

Rumain Brisbon: https://www.dangerousobjects.org/rumain-brisbon (link includes sources) – Note: This site catalogues multiple examples of unarmed black people being subject to shooting or police brutality, with a focus on the harmless objects that were the catalyst of the police response.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Charles_Kinsey – Charles, a behavioral therapist, was retrieving his autistic patient Arnaldo Rios-Soto who had run away from a group home, when police encountered them during an unrelated search for an armed suicidal man. Arnaldo naturally did not respond to police orders. Kinsey, while lying on the ground with his hands in the air and attempting to negotiate between police and his patient, was shot when officer Jonathan Aledda mistook the toy truck Arnaldo held to be a gun – interestingly, Jonathan says he was aiming at Arnaldo, who he thought was holding Charles hostage, but shot Charles instead. Jonathan was arrested in 2017 and found guilty of culpable negligence in 2019, at which point he was fired, but his conviction was overturned in 2022.

The best part of the Charles Kinsey one in particular is that Kinsey was working with an autistic adult who was having a breakdown. He was sitting in an intersection, holding a toy firetruck and blocking traffic. Fearing that the police would choose to mistake the man's toy firetruck for a gun, Kinsey stayed with the man and explained to police that it was a toy truck and not a gun. In order to assure officers that he was no threat, Kinsey was lying on his back with his hands in the air. A police officer then shot Kinsey. A different officer asked the shooter why he shot Kinsey, and the shooter replied, and I swear to you this is an exact quote, "I don't know." Not being able to articulate what, if anything, Kinsey did wrong did not stop police from handcuffing him and leaving him without medical care for 20 minutes as he bled from his gunshot wound. The officer was convicted of culpable negligence and ordered by a court to serve 5 months' probation and write an essay about policing. That conviction was overturned on appeal. The police union representing the officer explained that, despite police having been informed by witnesses that the autistic adult was holding a toy truck and confirming themselves using binoculars that it was indeed a toy truck, that the shooter was aiming for the autistic man holding the toy truck and was trying to save Kinsey's life, despite the fact that the danger existed solely in the shooter's head.

The people of Miami Dade county, having done nothing wrong, were forced to pay Kinsey an undisclosed sum.

How about Daniel shaver? For having nothing? That's one of the worst execution videos I've seen, up there with ISIS and cartel videos. In those videos, they're scared, but they know what's happening. He had so much fear and the guy that shot him felt good about it. Got to keep the gun as a trophy.

For the record, Mark Venuti and Khiel Coppin both claimed to have a gun. Obviously doesn't excuse the misidentification, but gives them at least some benefit of the doubt. Most of the rest are instances of racism. ACAB

Cops have real Uncle Jimbo "They're coming right for us!" energy.

It's Schrödinger's firearm: It's a gun if the wielder is an out-group.

needs a picture of a white guy on a license saying "not gun"

You know, you're allowed to just ignore stupid excuses people dredge up to justify cop murders and just say the cops are fascist and need to be removed.

Abolishing police and prisons should be a goal that humanity works towards.

why is there a tiktok watermark on a regular image meme?

But I thought the 2nd amendment protected people that possessed weapons whether real or fake