Another Police Shooting Of A Person Of Color ... In Sixty Seconds

The Daily Kos has a theory that it takes about 60 seconds for police officers to assess a situation before fatally shooting people of color.

Philando Castile was shot 64 seconds after being stopped by Jeronimo Yanez. That was a little long ... children get shot faster.

Seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot 9 seconds after police surrounded the house she was in as they attempted to serve an arrest warrant. 

Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot 2 seconds after officers approached him in the park where he was playing with a pellet gun by himself.

So, maybe for kids the Sixty Second Rule doesn’t apply, but for grown people of color ... ?

Last week in Oklahoma City police shot Madgiel Sanchez less than a minute after coming upon him; and Sanchez was deaf.

Sanchez was shot outside his home after police showed up to investigate a hit-and-run. The first officer on the scene pulled out his Taser and ordered Sanchez, who was on his front porch, to drop the two-foot-long pipe he was holding.

His commands didn’t seem to register with Sanchez, who walked off the porch toward the officer, waving the pipe in his right hand, as Sanchez’ daughter yelled:

“Don’t kill him, he’s deaf. Don’t do it!”

Six other neighbors joined in, shouting at the officer, but within sixty seconds another officer arrived and pulled out his handgun; the first officer fired his Taser and the second fired his handgun.

Okay, so was Sanchez coming at the officers and they felt threatened? Well, everyone, including the officers, used the word “amble” to describe his movements—meaning Sanchez was walking at a slow pace; he was not charging at them. And people were shouting that Sanchez was deaf, but the officers tasered him and shot him dead nonetheless.

In his neighborhood, Sanchez was known for walking the streets and was always carrying that pipe to shoo away stray dogs. Neighbors say he even used the pipe “to communicate,” moving it around to try to convey what he meant. They say he was doing that with the officers before he was killed.

Now, some might say this isn’t about race, it’s about a man wielding a pipe, even though he was deaf, and even though was ambling off his porch, and even though one officer tasered him while the other shot him dead.

People will say that police have a difficult job and must assess a situation within seconds but ...

“Black men are 2.8 times as likely to be killed than white people during encounters with police. Hispanic men are 1.7 times more likely to be killed. Black women and girls make up 33% of fatal police shootings of women despite only being 13% of the female population.”

Doesn’t sound right, does it? And if it doesn’t, isn’t it about time to do something about policing?

And wouldn't it be nice if we could get it done in less time than it takes to shoot a person of color in America.

Daily Kos