The strange case of Brandon Tate Brown, and another mass murder in middle America.

I have been watching the case of Tate Brown  here in Philly for awhile now.

This case, unlike other cases of police brutality, did not make national headlines.

I think I know why.

I also did not jump into the fray, because, quite frankly, I did not see an Eric Garner, or even a Michael Brown type scenario playing itself out here.

The truth is I represent a lot of people like Tate Brown. They are not angels or choir boys, and, if what is alleged is true, like Tate Brown, they make their living in the streets.    

So when I heard about the shooting death of Tate Brown on a street in Frankford section of Philadelphia, I gave the police officer (or officers) who shot him to death the benefit of the doubt. Although my instincts tell me that as a person of color I should have known better.
 

Now, sadly, there is a genuine issue as to whether Tate Brown was executed or he was shot to death by police officers following proper police procedures.

 

There has been no social media outcry or no calls for marches on a national scale, because Tate Brown had a gun in his car, and he had an extensive criminal record.

 

But does all of this matter? If he was not threatening the lives of the police officers who were arresting him, did he deserve to die?

 

Now the powers that be are giving us yet another story about what happened that night.

 

"THEY SAY the devil is in the details. And the details of Brandon Tate-Brown's December death at police hands are getting more devilishly contradictory daily, the lawyer representing the dead man's family said yesterday.

Meanwhile, the head of the Police Advisory Commission yesterday viewed videos pertaining to the incident and provided an account of what they show.

Initially, police said that the officer who shot Tate-Brown during a routine car stop on Dec. 15 in Frankford did so because he lunged for a handgun hidden in the console of his 2014 Dodge Charger as he struggled with two cops outside.

But now, they're saying Tate-Brown also "reached for his waistband" in the skirmish, according to a narrative of the incident police posted on their website.

A police spokesman attributed the discrepancies to the preliminary report issued to the public, which contained information that has since been updated as a result of further investigation.

 

Attorney Brian Mildenberg said Tate-Brown's autopsy report shows that cops gave the Medical Examiner's Office different details than what police officials have released publicly.

Specifically, police told the Medical Examiner that the officers asked Tate-Brown, 26, to step out of his car because they ran his plates and found they were registered to a different car-rental agency than where Tate-Brown told them he'd gotten the car.

One of the officers noticed the gun, the medical examiner's report notes, after he and his partner approached the car a second time - not upon their initial approach, as police officials have repeatedly said.

Police officials have maintained that the officers pulled Tate-Brown over on Frankford Avenue near Magee because his car headlights were out. However, the police statement made no mention of license-plate discrepancies. Meanwhile, the medical examiner's report makes no mention of the headlights. Instead, investigator Natalie Young notes only the license-plate issue.

Kelvyn Anderson, the executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, viewed footage from the incident yesterday at the behest of Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

He also reviewed statements from four witnesses at the scene, as well as other evidence." [Source]

Finally, another mass killing in America and another collective yawn from the citizens of our fine country.

Maybe if the killer had chosen to wear a dress with controversial colors he would have gotten our attention.