On Thanksgiving night, a fight at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama escalated to gunshots. An 18-year-old was shot and killed. While a 12-year-old was shot and is in stable condition. As police arrived at the scene, they saw a man with a gun and killed him, deeming the conflict resolved. Police Captain Gregg Rector said, "The Hoover police officer actually was running to the scene, he heard gunshots, he was obviously very near the scene, he actually shot and killed the person who injured the other person."
Police Chief Nick Derzis said, "We have a plan and our plan works . . . Thank God we had our officers very close. They heard the gunfire, they engaged the subject, and they took out the threat. That threat could have materialized into a lot more people being injured. Thank goodness that did not happen." Job well done, handshakes all around.
Except they didn't kill the shooter. They murdered Emantic "E.J." Bradford, who was one of "several shoppers" who drew guns after hearing the gunfire inside the mall. The key difference is that Bradford was black. Captain Rector said, "New evidence now suggests that while Mr. Bradford may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim . . . We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not."
Not "We're sorry we killed the wrong person." Not "We're sorry we plastered pictures of Bradford everywhere and congratulated our officers for killing him." Not "We're sorry our officers' idea of 'protect and serve' is to enter every active gunfire situation like a shitty western film." And definitely not, "Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, we're sorry for murdering your son." Just "We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate."
Police added insult to injury by blaming Bradford for his own murder and refusing to release body camera footage. But don't worry, they're getting to the bottom of it: The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the incident and the Hoover Police Department is conducting its own internal investigation. As history shows, letting an institution police itself always results in justice, right?
Unsurprisingly, the NRA has kept silent about the incident. It doesn't exactly fit with their narrative or that of gun rights proponents in general. They argue that more "good guys with guns" will uphold public safety, but all it did in this case (and so many others) was get an innocent, black man murdered by police once again.
If nobody in the mall beside the shooter had a gun, maybe the police wouldn't have murdered Bradford and they could spend their time finding the still-at-large shooter instead of trying to save face in front of the media.
Unsurprisingly, this isn't an isolated incident. In November, a black security guard pinned an active shooter to the ground in a Chicago bar. When police arrived, they shot and killed him. A black Navy veteran was trying to break up a fight when his fell off his hip. When he went to pick it up, campus police shot and killed him.
Philando Castile had the audacity to be black and own a gun. An officer pulled him over and, when he saw he was carrying, killed him. The murders of John Crawford and Tamir Rice show that you don't even have to have a real gun to be shot by police. Countless more cases could be told to show that being "black" is an unfortunate crime of the 21st century.
Emantic "E.J." Bradford's mother said, "I did not want to see pictures of my son laying in a pool of blood and when I accidentally came across it I broke down. And I can't get it out of my head. I cannot get the scene out of my head of my child laying there, nobody around him trying to help him, just laying like a piece of trash where everyone can walk around and parade and post pictures of him on social media."
Police still have not contacted her about the shooting. For those who are supposed to risk their lives to protect us, they can sure show a lot of cowardice.
