Police Brutality: When Will It End?

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Just when it seems like African American’s lives are finally looking up, things tend to take a turn for the worst. This is the case for the family of Keith L. Scott. On Tuesday night, October 20, 2016, a policeman brutally murdered this man inside of his car in Charlotte, North Carolina. As all of these stories go, there are two different sides. Who should the public believe? What really happened? Only the policeman knows the actual story because the other witness to the crime is unfortunately dead. 

Police brutality has always been a problem within the United States. The peculiar thing is that for some reason it seems that law enforcement agencies always target African Americans. The other abnormal thing is that for the past few years it has been more prevalent. In this case the police are saying the victim had a weapon which they claim to have confiscated from the scene. Scott’s family adamantly denies the fact that he had a gun but says that he was reading a book. In the end, it is a controversial debate because the public honestly does not know who is telling the truth nor do they know what actually happened. This man was not doing anything illegal. This is what has many people thinking why would the police harass this man for no apparent reason and murder him. In all of the police brutality cases, it is the same story every time. The police ”claims” the victim had a gun and tried to attack them which gives them a justifiable reason to murder. Recently, the police have begun to wear body cameras to record each encounter that they may have with any potential victims but it seems as though they are not effective. If they were, it would not be two different sides to the story.

Many would agree that it is a racial discrimination and power situation. You never hear about an innocent Caucasian man being shot by the police. All of the recent stories have featured a black man and a police officer. And most notably the victim does not make it out alive. Why target African Americans when they have not done anything wrong? Basing people`s actions on their color is wrong. When the police stop a Caucasian man they are not going to act as if he is a danger to them. The total opposite happens in a black man`s situation. The police will see him as a threat and automatically think he has a weapon. It is also a power play because policemen think they can get away with anything just because they have certain authoritative rights. This power comes with them lying about the situations and what really happened between them and the victim. Think about it. It is their story against any witnesses.

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