2023-09-02 03:01:00
Police in the US state of Ohio released body camera footage of a deadly shooting against pregnant black woman Ta’Kiya Young, sparking public outrage and renewed calls to end deadly police violence in America.
Footage released Friday showed the 21-year-old’s murder in the parking lot of a grocery store in Blendon Township, a suburb of Ohio’s state capital, Columbus, on Aug. 24. Authorities said Young’s fetus did not survive the shooting.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford characterized the incident as a “tragedy” that occurred when police tried to arrest Young after she was charged with shoplifting.
But Young’s family has called the killing “avoidable,” a “serious abuse of power and authority” and an “act of hate,” according to local media reports.
“This incident goes beyond the obvious policy violations that occurred,” the family said in a statement, the Columbus Dispatch reported. “After seeing the video of his death, this is clearly a criminal act.”
In recent years, the United States has been the scene of massive marches against deadly police violence, including the 2020 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Advocates have continued to demand accountability and an end to racism against Black people.
“Are you going to shoot me?”
In body camera footage released Friday, an employee is heard telling a police officer in the parking lot of a Kroger’s grocery store that Young had shoplifted.
The officer, who was helping someone else in the parking lot at the time, approaches the driver’s seat of Young’s parked car and tells him to get out. “So that?” he asks before denying having taken anything. “Are you going to shoot me?”
The car then accelerates forward and a second officer who was standing in front of the car fires a single shot as the vehicle makes contact with him as it jumps to the side.
Las cOfficers’ body cameras show the car slowing but continuing toward a wall as officers run past it. They then break the car window to gain access.
In a statement Friday, Belford said officers attempted to provide first aid before paramedics arrived. Young was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Her family has said that their unborn daughter would be due in November. Young also had two other children, according to the family.
calls to action
Police have not released the identities of the two officers, citing an Ohio law that protects the identities of crime victims.
Police have argued that both officers involved in the fatal incident fall into this category. They said an officer had his arm inside Young’s window when the car sped off, which constitutes assault. The other officer, they said, was the victim of an attempted criminal assault.
Speaking to local media on Friday, the lawyer representing Young’s family, Chanda Brown, said she saw no “justification” for officers to use deadly force. “I saw a young woman being killed,” Brown said, referring to the footage that was released. “In that video I did not see any exoneration for the police officer.”
Ramon Obey, lead organizer for the advocacy and civil rights group People’s Justice Project, said the incident made it clear that “property was considered more valuable than black life.” “Black women deserve more, this fatal encounter with police cannot be minimized,” Obey said in a statement Friday, calling for justice for Young and her unborn child.
A community rally is also taking place in Columbus over the weekend.
The US police have been repeatedly accused by human rights organizations of using violence disproportionately towards the black population in the country.
According to data from Mapping Police Violence, which collects national data on police violence, in 2022 the Police killed at least 1,201 people in the United States. Of them, 26% were black despite the fact that they only represent 13% of the US population, explained that association.
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