Learn Their Stories – Victims of Police Brutality in 2020 and Onward
Note: this page is (sadly) quite long, and some of the content is graphic
Daniel Prude
Daniel Prude’s life was full of hardship and loss, and his death is another example of society's failure to address mental health issues. Prude struggled with drug addiction and mental health following the suicide of his nephew. He also lost two of his brothers earlier in life. On March 23, 2020, Prude took a train from Chicago to Rochester to visit his brother. He began to suffer from hallucinations, so his brother had him hospitalized. Prude was discharged by doctors a few hours later, only to experience another episode and flee into the night. He was then found by police (Chiarito, Robert, and Sarah Maslin Nir). The officers handcuffed Mr. Prude, and covered his head with a hood after he began spitting and claiming to have COVID-19. They then pinned him face down on the ground. When paramedics arrived, Prude had no heartbeat. He was revived and hospitalized but died seven days later after he was removed from life support. The medical examiner ruled his death to be a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.” The body camera footage from this encounter was not released until September – more than five months after Prude’s death. The seven officers involved were suspended on September 3, the day after the release of the footage. On September 5, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a grand jury investigation would take place (Gold). On February 23, 2021, James announced that the grand jury declined to charge any of the seven officers on the scene that night with crime, which was met with great backlash (Maslin Nir).
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Joshua Rashaad McFadden for The New York Times
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Rayshard Brooks
On June 12, 2020, a Wendy’s employee called the police, reporting that a sleeping man was parked the drive-thru. Rayshard Brooks was questioned for 25 minutes by two police officers. He struggled with the officers when they tried to take him into custody. He was then shot in the back multiple times by officer Garret Rolfe after he ran away with a stun gun. Rolfe did not provide medical attention to Brooks for over two minutes after shooting him. Additionally, Rolfe kicked Brooks while he lay on the ground. Rolfe was charged with felony murder and ten other charges. The other officer involved was charged as well (Karimi, Faith, and Steve Almasy). In May 2021, it was revealed that Rolfe had been reinstated, as the Atlanta Civil Service Board reversed his firing, ruling that he was not afforded due process (Carissimo).
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Trayford Pellerin
Trayford Pellerin, a 31-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by Lafayette Police outside of a convenience store on August 22, 2020. Police officers were called to the store to to respond to a "disturbance involving a person armed with a knife." Pellerin was located in the parking lot with a knife, and when the officers attempted to apprehend him, he left and the officers pursued him. They shot Pellerin while he tried to enter a store. In May 2021, a grand jury declined to charge the officers involved in his death, which means that no officer will be prosecuted (Jones, Abigail, and Scott Lewis).
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Roderick WalkerRoderick Walker, age 26, was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for an alleged broken rear light on Friday, September 11, 2020. His girlfriend was driving, and their five-month-old child and his stepson were also passengers when police pulled them over. The police asked Walker for identification, which upset him because he was not driving the car. He informed them that he did not have any identification, but that he did not need to because he was not driving. The officers demanded that he exit the car, and they proceeded to punch and tase him, causing him to lose consciousness twice. He was then taken to jail (BBC News). In August 2021, Brandon Myers, one of the officers who pinned Walker, was fired by the Sheriff's Office and charged with battery and violating the oath of office. Walker was charged with battery and obstructing law enforcement, but a grand jury decided not to indict him (Aspegren).
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Jonathan Price
31-year-old Jonathan Price was shot and killed in October 2020 by 22-year-old white Texas police officer Shaun Lucas at a gas station in Wolfe City. Lucas is facing murder charge and the investigation is being handled by the Texas Rangers. Lucas had responded to a domestic dispute call at the convenience store, which Price was attempting to break up. The affidavit says that when Lucas arrived at the scene, Price greeted him and extended his hand in a handshake gesture. Lucas told investigators that he thought Price was drunk and thus tried to detain Price by "by grabbing his arm and using verbal commands," but was unsuccessful. He tried to use his Taser on Price. Price tried to reach for the weapon, and then Lucas took out his weapon and fired four times, according to the affidavit. Price died later that night (Pereira, Ivan, et al.).
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Witnesses say Jonathan Price was trying to defuse an argument at a Texas store when Officer Shaun Lucas arrived and used a stun gun before shooting Price, who was unarmed and walking away. (ABC News)
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Marcellis Stinnette
On October 20, 2020, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was fatally shot by an Illinois police officer while in the passenger seat of a car being driven by his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, 20. She was also shot, seriously injured, and had surgery in the hospital. The police have not stated why the vehicle was being investigated, and no gun was found inside the car. The police said that the car went into reverse towards the officer, and the officer, a Hispanic man who had been with the department for five years, fired on the car because he feared for his safety. The officer has been fired (Cramer). There is still a great deal up in the air about what occurred, despite some footage being released. The sources below offer more detail on the events of that night.
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The city of Waukegan, Ill., released videos Oct. 28 from a police officer’s fatal shooting of 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette. (Allie Caren/The Washington Post)
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Walter Wallace Jr.
27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr. was shot by two Philadelphia police officers multiple times on October 25, 2020. The officers were responding to a call reporting a man with a knife. Wallace’s family has stated that he suffered from mental illness, which he took medication for. His relatives called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, but police showed up instead. The officers approached him with guns drawn rather than first trying to subdue him, so Wallace was shot and killed. Moreover, the officers were not equipped with Tasers due to budget restrictions. This led the mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, to impose a curfew and call in the National Guard after successive nights of rioting after Wallace’s death (Shepherd, Katie, et al.). The protests injured more than 50 officers and over 200 people were arrested (Gross). In November 2020, body-cam footage was released and the police officers involved were identified as Sean Matarazzo, 25, and Thomas Munz, 26. Both were placed on restrictive duty (Gross). In October 2021, the city of Philadelphia finalized a suit filed by Wallace's family, which compensated the family and included a demand that the city provide officers with stun guns (Diaz).
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Casey Goodson
On December 4, 2020, 23-year-old Casey Goodson was fatally shot by 17-year police veteran Jason Meade. Meade was a Franklin County Sheriff's Office Deputy in Columbus, Ohio, and also a Baptist pastor (Klemko). Meade had been assigned to a fugitive task force and was looking for someone in an operation unrelated to Goodson. Goodson had been returning from Subway and had inserted his house keys into the lock when he was shot multiple times. Meade's lawyer says that Goodson pointed a gun at Meade, but Goodson's family members, who were inside the house, say they did not see a gun near him after he was shot (Walinchus, Lucia, and Richard A. Oppel) Meade has been placed on administrative leave while investigations continue (Klemko). Goodson has no criminal background and was not the target of any investigation, and was a concealed carry permit holder. There is no footage because Franklin County Sheriff's task force officers aren't given body cameras, and there have been no eyewitnesses identified (Maxouris). In December 2021, Meade was charged with murder and Goodson's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Meade and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office (The Associated Press).
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Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images (ABC News)
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Andre Hill
In late December 2020, 47-year-old Andre Hill was shot and killed by Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who was responding to a call from a neighbor about a person was turning the engine of an SUV on and off at around 1:30 a.m. Footage shows Hill walking toward Coy holding his cellphone and Coy firing his weapon. Coy did not turn on his camera until after the shooting, but there is a 60-second "look-back" feature without audio. Coy did not provide any medical aid to Hill after shooting him (Albert). In fact, according to the body camera footage, the officers waited for around 15 minutes before giving medical attention to Hill. The other officer who responded to the complaint, Amy Detweiler, said she heard Coy say that Hill had a gun, but that she did not see a gun and didn't observe any threats from Hill (Mansell, William, and Bill Hutchinson). Coy was fired and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation looked into the case (Albert). In early February 2021, Coy was charged with murder, felonious assault, and dereliction duty. This indictment came days after the Columbus City Council passed a law in Hill's name requiring police to turn on body cameras when responding to calls and to immediately give first aid after using force, and also days after Columbus Police Chief Tom Quinlan resigned at the order of the mayor (Mansell, William, and Bill Hutchinson).
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Dolal Idd
On December 30, 2020, 23-year-old Dolal Idd was killed in a shootout with Minneapolis police officers in the same neighborhood where George Floyd was murdered on May 25. Police said that Idd was a felony suspect and witnesses confirmed that Idd fired first, but there are questions as to what could have been done to de-escalate the situation and whether the cops were justified in firing into the vehicle (Yang). The video that has been released shows an officer walking toward Idd in his car, who is trying to drive away, but has difficulty due to the snow. The officer continues closing in on the car and yells for Idd to put his hands up (Bogel-Burroughs). In August 2021, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced that the officers's use of force was justified (Wiita).
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Patrick Warren Sr
Patrick Warren was shot and killed by Killeen, Texas police officer Reynaldo Contreras on January 10, 2021, in the front yard of his home. His family had called the police to ask for a mental health professional to be sent to their home, but an officer who was not prepared to handle a mental health crisis responded instead. The day before, the family had called the police because of a mental health concern and a mental health officer did respond, but they were still concerned the following day. They called again, expecting the same resource officer to arrive. Warren was not armed, yet footage from the doorbell and cellphone shows the officer demanding him to put his hands up. Contreras was put on administrative leave (Burke). In April 2021, Contreras returned to work on administrative duty. In May, a grand jury declined to indict him ("Grand Jury Clears Officer").
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Credit: NBC News
Courtesy Warren family |
Adam Toledo
In April 2021, officials in Chicago released body camera footage of a police officer shooting and killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo, a Latino boy, on March 29. Two officers were responding to reports of gunfire when they saw two people in an alley and started to chase them. Prosecutors said that Adam was holding a gun when he was running, and when an officer told him to to stop and drop the weapon, he drops it behind a wooden fence before raising his hands according to police videos. When he turned and raised his hands, the officer shot him. The officer then started to administer CPR. The officer was identified as Eric Stillman, a 34-year-old white man. He was placed on administrative duties for 30 days (Vigdor).
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Ma'Khia Bryant
16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant was shot and killed by police officer Nicholas Reardon in Columbus, Ohio on the same day that Chauvin's verdict was decided. Police were called to the scene due to a report of a disturbance — Ma'Khia called 911 to ask police to come protect her from a group of girls who were threatening her according to her family. Footage shows Ma'Khia was holding a knife during the incident. Ma'Khia and another girl were struggling next to a car when Reardon shouts "Get down" and aims his gun at Bryant, who was swinging her arm at the other girl. Reardon then fires four shots, believing that Ma'Khia was attempting to stab the other girl (Chappell). Reardon has been taken off patrol duty while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation looks into the shooting. Under Columbus Police Department's policy, officers can use deadly force to protect themselves or a third person (Romo, Vanessa, and Jaclyn Diaz). Her death set off more protests in and outside of Ohio.
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Credit: USA Today
Courtesy of Don Bryant |
Andrew Brown Jr.
42-year-old Andrew Brown Jr. was shot and killed on April 21, 2021 by a North Carolina deputy who was serving a search warrant. Witnesses say that Brown was shot when trying to drive away, and then drove into a tree. Brown had a history of drug charges and the warrant was surrounding felony drug charges. Following the shooting, seven North Carolina Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office deputies were placed on leave according to authorities (CBS/AP). However, under North Carolina law, body camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released without a court order (Todd, Brian, et al.). Judge Jeffery Foster ruled that Brown's family would be shown a fraction of the recorded footage (less than 20 minutes of the nearly two hours that was filmed) on May 11. Foster's ruling described the footage, stating that Brown tried to flee the scene and that three officers fired their weapons into his car (Finley). North Carolina District Attorney Andrew Womble said on May 18 that the three deputies who opened fire on Brown were justified in their use of deadly force because Brown drove his car toward them and allegedly made contact with one deputy before they fired. The officers fired a total of 14 shots. Womble's statement that the officers actions were justified has caused outrage among the family and protestors (Hutchinson),
Click here for a breakdown of the bodycam footage by The New York Times
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Click here for a breakdown of the bodycam footage by The New York Times
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- "What We Know About the Killing of Andrew Brown Jr. in North Carolina" (The New York Times)
- "After police kill a Black man in North Carolina, a community calls for authorities to release the body-cam footage" (The Washington Post)
- 7 N.C. Sheriff's Deputies On Leave After Fatal Shooting Of Black Man (NPR)
- No charges for deputies in Andrew Brown Jr. shooting, district attorney says (ABC)
Teens in Ocean City, MD
On June 6 and 12, 2021, incidents of police using force to arrest Black teens in Ocean City occurred. On June 6, an 18-year-old Black man was standing with his hands in the air before an officer tased him. On June 12, a 19-year-old Black man was pinned face down by officers and then kneed in the side. Three other teenagers were arrested as well. On both dates, the teens were originally being punished for violating a smoking/vaping ban (Editorial Board). According to a statement from the town, the police informed them of the ordinance, but when the group began to walk away, the police claim that they saw someone continue to vape. The police then say that the teens became "disorderly" and resisted arrest. Multiple teens were charged, and were later released (Moshtaghian). The teens' names are Brian Anderson, Jahtique John Lewis, Kamere Day, Gage Patterson, and Khalil Warren (Winsor).
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Other Victims
These are not the only ones who have are victims of police brutality, violence, and prejudice against African Americans. Other victims whose deaths have sparked outcry are Tony McDade, Oluwatoyin Salau, Elijah McClain, James "Jay" Garcia.
Here is an interactive resource with more information
Here is an interactive resource with more information