Citizens in Baltimore are accusing the police of a racist killing for the fatal shooting of a black teen who has not yet been publicly identified.
The shooting occurred on the night of August 5, and there are very few details about the incident or what may have sparked it. Like two similar shootings in 2023, police say officers observed a young man who looked to be armed and who ran away from cops when they approached.
Police Commissioner Richard Worley described only the basics of the encounter in a news conference. He said police pursued the teen on foot because he had “characteristics of an armed person.” Once they caught up to him, some sort of altercation occurred between the teen and the cops. Three police officers opened fire when they realized he did have a gun, according to Worley.
The teen’s handgun was found to be loaded.
Bodycam footage has not yet been released, and police so far are staying quiet about how many shots were fired, whether the teen threatened the officers or brandished his gun, and similar details. They also would not say whether cops issued a verbal warning before fatally opening fire. It is standard practice in the early days of an investigation to keep any known details out of the public eye until a later date.
But in 21st century America, that does not stop people from immediately assuming that “racist” police officers are hunting down and killing black people without cause. For example, local resident Taavon Bazemore, a 55-year-old who lives in the neighborhood, said the police did not “just kill” the teen, but engaged in “overkill.” How he was able to determine this is not clear. Bazemore even admitted that a teen boy should not have a loaded gun, but said “that don’t give you the right to kill him.”
American perception of the danger posed by police to black men is wildly out of step with reality. Surveys have shown that at least one third of Americans falsely believe that police kill at least 1,000 unarmed black men annually, when the reality is usually between 20 and 30. For liberals it’s worse; almost 44 percent believe the inflated false figure.
