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Kiazhane Chavez

Emilia Ianeva, PhD, JD, LLM

SOC 3480

Research Paper

Police Brutality/Killings that ended with Riots

Violence as defined is any behavior that is designed to inflict injury on people or

people’s property. In general people turn to violence as a reaction to various situations

without thinking twice. There are two types of violence illegitimate and legitimate.

Illegitimate violence (illegal) are acts of homicide, rape, assault, and terrorism. Legitimate

violence (legal) are acts that are justifiable law enforcement actions and militarism. Where

would a riot be placed? Illegitimate or legitimate? A riot is violent disturbance of the peace

by a crowd causing a public disturbance. Riots don’t arise out of nowhere. There is a

meaningful purpose to the bigger picture as to why a certain community would want to lash

out in a violent outrage. In today’s society it is mainly over the police. Police? Yes, the

police are on the rise to have committed the most killings and they are supposed to protect

us. So why do we have police to serve and protect when it seems they kill and scare civilians.

The target of these police killings/brutality are inflicted upon unarmed African American

males. “The likelihood that a black person killed by police will be unarmed: Twice as likely

as a white person killed by police, according to the Guardian.” (25 facts).

In my analysis I will be going over three incidents that is somewhat recent that has or

had major publicity. These incidents deal with unarmed black men, police and their actions,

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and most importantly how the public around the world and local communities deal with the

ongoing heartbreak. They are in order of a police brutality incident were the male was not

killed, no justice for police actions and negative outcome. The second is a case of police

brutality ending with a murder, with no justice, and negative outcome. Lastly a case of police

brutality that ends in murder, having very little justice, and a much more positive outcome. I

have chosen this route to show the different outcomes of police beatings and killings.

In April of 1992 there was a massive issue between the Los Angeles public and their

police department. Before my time there was an incident between a male driving a car and

four policemen. In his arrest the situation became violent quickly. Rodney King was beaten

with batons by four officers with the last names of Koon, Powell, Briseno, and Wind.

Rodney was struck over 50 times while he was down on the ground. No one is saying that

King was in the right to proceed in a high speed chase with the police. Also being under the

influence, on parole and resisting arrest. He could have stop and this whole situation could

have been avoided. Do you think being beaten with four batons over 50 time is

demonstrating excessive force? Can this be classified as police brutality? Yes, it can. There

can and was an alternative force that could have been used.

Leaving the civil rights movement, it can seem like the police are the ones who

commit these “hate crimes” instead of the general public on black Americans. Police

brutality has risen significantly in recent years and has been more known to the public now

due to social media. This can make people become outraged and want to fight. But even with

the flash of a camera or motions from a video it is not enough proof to convict an officer for

an act of violence. The video was released to several news networks by a man named George

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Holiday who in fact recorded it. This is what made the case high publicized by being played

repeatedly over the television. Watching such a hateful act over and over brought anger to

the LA areas. Anger was brought out more from the minority groups like other Africa

Americans and Latinos.

With the video being the main evidence used you would assume the officers will be

proven guilty. But that was not the case. The case on trial wasn’t not fair from the beginning

since there were no African American jurors, ten were white. This gave people no hope but

still wanted justice since they have video evidence. In fact, “this slice of video vérité

ultimately served to acquit the officers, sparking the 1992 L.A.” riots (Rabinowitz, P 2015).

The ruling for the officers were not favored by the pubic in South Central Los Angeles. This

caused immediate outrage and it turned very violent very quickly. Rioters started at the scene

of the incident at hand and blocked the freeways with protesting. While doing so they started

to fight other motorist on the freeway. Within the city stores were viciously wrecked and

fires were started. These violent evens became bad to the point that the National Guard and

Military had to get involved to enforce safety. The riots did not do good for south central

because innocent people were killed and injured.

To fast forward into time, mid 2014 was a start of something vicious. There was an

unarmed African American teenager walking in a suburb of Ferguson MO. No one knows

the truth about what had happened next but we do know there was a man named Michael

Brown lying face down in a pool of his own blood. From the beginning there was something

suspicious about the situation at hand that sparked outrage in Ferguson. Again I’m not saying

that Michael was completely innocent in an event leading up to the shooting. I say this

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because he was caught on camera stealing cigarettes and also ran away from the police

Officer Wilson (some witnesses say). But does that mean that you have to die over a petty

crime? No. There were witnesses that stated Brown was not moving toward or charging

Officer Wilson when the fatal shots were given out. This incident just adds to the stigma of

police brutality and deaths of unarmed black males. Plus, it started the first wave of the

vicious violent riots.

The grand jury decision did not help in stopping the riots but simply adding more fuel

to the fire. This grand jury in comparison with Rodney King actually had three African

Americans. Giving hope to the people in receiving justice. The decision came to not indict

Officer Wilson on five charges in the shooting of Brown. That’s when the second wave of

riots started to occur. There were numerus reports of fires, objects being thrown on officers,

looting, and business being vandalized. It became so bad for the city that the Governor had to

declare a state of emergency and depend on the National Guard to protect the city. Having

the National Guard in Ferguson and also adding a curfew only made matters worse instead of

improving. Even though the riots did have a bad turn out and some feel justice is not served

there was positivity shed on the black community. There was already a movement being

done called Black Lives Matter from a previous incident with Treyvon Martin. Browns case

added to the movement and gave African Americans more fuel to become one and equal not

just to cops but people with “white privilege”. There was a special movement on social

media for Brown with the hashtag #HandsUpDontShoot.

There has been a rift between whites and blacks since the time of slavery. African

Americans have never been equal to whites even in today’s time. The term of “white

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privilege” has been around since 20 th century. Blacks have always been a step behind. There

is a reason why whites have had more progression after slavery to be one ahead of the blacks.

“White average families have had parents or grandparents who … were able to procure a

little house maybe with an FHA or a VA loan … that were off-limits to people of color”

(Wise, T 2008). In doing this there were a large amounts of money in equity and assists to

whites. It was also shown that these loans were given out to families that lived below poverty

level, giving them a chance to become middle class. There was nothing like this done for

African Americans but they are highly frowned upon now for receiving housing assistance

from the Government. Section 8 and HUD are the most popular reduced housing vouchers,

that have been received greatly by minorities.

With minorities receiving the most help from the Government like section aid or food

stamps there has been a whirlwind of bias and stereotypes created. Bias and stereotypes are

mostly created by people who are racist and judges a whole race on a certain incident with

one person from that race. This can be very difficult and frustrating to minorities because

everyone wants to live the American dream but it will always be a challenge. Being a racist

is a learned behavior and a mindset because it is taught as a value or a way of life. So if a

police officer comes from a family of white privilege (because they are predominantly white)

and carries certain racial stereotypes then it would be common for them to target certain

races while there on the job. The two top race that are targeted are African Americans and

Latinos. When in fact “white males are four and a half times more likely to actually have

drugs” (Wise, T 2008) on them while driving. With a slim chance of them being stopped in

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the first place but with profiling their car would not be searched because it is assumed that

they are following the law.

Tim Wise (an author) had conducted his own little experience/curiosity conducting a

training workshop with a police department. He would ask series of question just to see

where the mindset of the officer is in. One question that shows that some/most police officers

have bias or racial issues; “what’s the first thing you think when you see a young black or

latino male driving a nice car in your neighborhood and they all, without fail, and without

exception will say drug dealer” (Wise, T 2008). These types of statement can really get your

mind accept that there may never be equality even in today’s generation. To compare he goes

on and asks questions about the same scenario with a white male. “What's the first thing you

think when you see a young white male, same age, driving the same kind of car, in that same

community, and they will say without exception, without hesitation, without fail, spoiled

little rich kid, daddy probably bought him a car” (Wise, T 2008). Instead of me just rambling

on about how blacks are less than whites I gave a perfect example of the mindset of police

officers on race. Police officers are sworn to protect and serve but i t seems they may be only

willing to serve their own kind. It was not stated that there were any African American police

officers who thought the same way. Since it was not mentioned it’s safe to say there were

none if any in this particular police department.

Our last incident of discussion is generally the same as thee other two but with a

different stem of the police. On new year’s 2009 there were a group of people taking the Bart

home from a party. Bart is a form of transportation similar to the subway in the Bay Area. On

Bart there was an incident between two groups that could have turned physical. The Bart

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officers of course went to check out the situation to see if they can calm every down and

diffuse the situation. But they done it in an aggressive manner since arriving onto the

platform. They were yelling loudly and hitting the train with their batons. From the

beginning camera phones were recording the incident since the Bart train stopped at

Fruitvale station. Further in the incident African American males were being taken down by

the officers and being forced face down into handcuffs. At first a man named Oscar Grant

and his fellow friends were not cooperating with the Bart police and that made them even

more agitated and aggressive. Oscar and his friends were yelling bad at the officers since

they feel they were innocent and that the officers were too rough with them. To sum up the

situation Oscar friends started to slowly cooperate. Since Oscar seemed less corporative, one

of the two officers tried to get him down by getting on time of him forcing his knee into his

bad. With a small struggle the officer Mehserle reached from his gun and shot him in the

back, facing the ground, with his hands behind him. The other officer did not use his firearm.

It was reported that the Bart officer intended on grabbing is taser instead of his gun. And that

statement itself cased a lot of eyebrows to raise since the shooting was caught on camera and

seemed intentional.

This trial was strategically planned out. First the case was brought to be moved into a

whole different county where the culture of the people is different. A case that happened in

Oakland (Alameda County) was move to Orange County. Alameda County of the Bay Area

is a very liberal county with such places other than Oakland that include Emeryville and

Berkley. Orange county on the other had can be seen as very high class and conservative.

Not the mention it is a predominantly composed of White Americans that are republicans;

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they don’t take too kindly to other races and their hardships. To make matters even more

unfair just like Rodney King there were no African American on the jury. During the end of

the trial the judge had “dismissed the first degree murder charge before closing arguments

were read” (Norris, K 2012). But referring back to the video footage it’s not hard to tell that

Mehserle is guilty of a crime because even though Oscar was resisting he was not physical

hitting the officer or charging the officer. The stance of taser and gun confusion is

outrageous. The jury came to the decision that officer Mehserle was guilty on involuntary

manslaughter for the shooting of Oscar Grant and that the other participants involved did

receive a small amount of money for their distress. This verdict shows that there can be some

justice given to the family’s wither or not the verdict desired was not given. Many people of

Oakland and all surrounding areas did protest and caused a mini riot over the minimal

punishment given. many had held signs with the worlds, Justice for Oscar Grant.

Police brutality and a guilty justice system not a new thing in the black communities

all around the US. Some may say that if the case was handled in Alameda County and had

even at least one African American juror that the case would have had a harsher punishment

for the officer. After the hatred for the Bart police and protesters and rioters calmed down a

positive turn had accord. There were many artists that had come together in Oakland to

create a mural for Oscar Grant and his family. One artist alone “painted the face of Grant

with vibrant colors …on a 14 th st storefront … reading Rest in Power Oscar Grant and All

Power to the People” (Ferrer, Christine Joy 2009). It was great to see that at the time the

people were coming together in a positive way in Oakland and around. Because it can be

very easy to continue to protest, riot, and retaliate. Another great thing that was done was a

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foundation was created in Grants name. The “Oscar Grant Foundation” is a resource for

youths that are at risk and want to make a change in themselves by turning their life into a

positive one. They offer help with teen pregnancy, crime between teens, helping them stay in

school, and most importantly reduce police use of excessive force. This foundation does that

donations.

Over time people due tend to get over situations that happened to the community once

the hype is over. Slowly the community “memorialize Grant, not as much ... because most

know that his tragedy will be replaced many times over” (Norris, K 2012). Grants life and

experience became known not only in California but the World. There was a movie made for

the life of Grant in 2013 titled “Fruitvale Station”. The movie is independent and won

numerous awards and is currently on YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, and Redbox’s. The movie

is a portrayal of the last day of his life leading up the shooting, during the Bart incident, and

the outcomes after the fact. It is truly amazing.

In my research I have examined three incidents that deal with the police and African

Americans. After these incidents occurred there was outrage by the public creating a riot and

adding to current movements that support blacks. I did this to show that yes the public had

moment of outrage but there can be a positive outcome after the fact. And yes I do know that

every case of police brutality does not have a riot or protest to show anger in their

community.

In the Rodney king incident there was a very powerful and vicious riot that lasted for

some time. There were protesters that went from blocking the freeway and being physical to

people in their vehicles. To the streets were there were numerous fires, vandalism, and harm

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being done to other cops. I guess you can say the minorities in LA were highly upset at the

incident, trial, and verdict. There were little to none positive outcomes. I believe the other

thing that changed were just a few police policies but there was nothing positive and

commendable that came from the community. Michael brown similar to King had a very

publicized situation and vicious riots that lasted some time. There was anger slipping from

the community in Ferguson since the second the shooting happened. The case seemed very

shady from the beginning. The riots became so bad during and after the trial that there was

extra security being called to the city to help make it safe. One positive that came from this

incident was the movements that were added to and created. It made the Black Lives Matter

more known in the news and another created just for Brown was Hands Up Don’t Shot. The

last battle with the police and blacks was the incident with Oscar Grant. Out of the three this

incident had the most positive turn out and I’m so proud because the positivity came out of

Oakland. At first there was hell to pay from the Bart Police to the people of Oakland. This

was because it was trial and investigation was shady and strategized just like the others. But

after the trail people were still anger of the verdict but they made their creativity fight for

them. There were numerous murals and foundations that were created and even a movie.

This is very big for the city of Oakland because the city is highly stereotyped.

Concluding my research, I feel police officers and bart police need to be retrained on

a few things. First they should take sensitivity classes so there first thought to mind in a

tough situation to not shoot to kill. Another training should be on breaking the cycle of

racism and bias. Because it unbelievable that the police are very stereotypical and that’s the

reason why certain races are target more in poor areas or if they look out of place in a rich

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area. Lastly gun and taser training because there was confusion on which is which in the

Oscar Grant case. Another could be to promote using the taster more to stop police shootings

and ending lives prematurely. African Americans need to learn to feel safe and protected by

police and not feel hunted. Programs need to be put in place so that blacks and police officers

can have a better relationship and can help each other out.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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