Here we go again.
A 25-year-old man, Ezell Ford, Jr. was fatally shot by the LAPD as he was reportedly complying with police orders. This shooting comes a short two days after Michael Brown’s death at the hands of Ferguson, Missouri police took all of our attention.
Family members say the victim–who was mentally handicapped–was lying on the ground and complying with officers when he was shot three times. A man who did not give his name and identified himself only as a cousin of the victim described what he saw, noting he had been around the corner when the altercation first occurred. “They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back knowing, mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area from the Newton Division knows that this child has mental problems,” the man said. “The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out.”
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Ford’s shooting has sparked a hashtag on social media, #EzellFord, and a rally is being organized for 3 p.m. Sunday at LAPD headquarters, according to a Facebook invitation.
“My heart is so heavy. My son was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did,” Tritobia Ford said in an interview Tuesday evening. Ford’s mother claims that she was pushed to the ground when she became hysterical and tried to find out what happened to her son. Similar to the ambiguous details surrounding what happened in the altercation between police and Brown, details on Ford’s fatal shooting are sparse. Ford’s mother says that police refused to inform her of where her son was hospitalized. The LAPD is also denying that anyone was denied information, though KTLA is reporting that the LAPD said that this shooting was warranted.
In the wake of Brown’s tragic death, this LA shooting has left many wondering, what is going on in our world? Why do we have to fight everyday to prove that there’s value in Black lives? The deaths are a devastating slap to the face, alerting us to the realities of what we’re living through.
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President, Earl Ofari Hutchinson said, “The killing of Ezell Ford — coming on the heels of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri — again raises the issue and problem of tense police-community relations. This is the sole reason we have called for a meeting … to get all the facts in the shooting and for assurances that the shooting will be subject to the most rigorous review to determine if there was any wrongdoing in Ford’s death.”
We don’t know all the details of events leading up to Ford’s death, but there’s no denying wrongdoing if he was indeed lying down and complying at the time of his death.
What do you beauties think?
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