I blogged about Lennon Lacy back in October, I wondered then----- as I am wondering now--- why his case didn't get more national attention.
Maybe things will change now that America's former sweetheart, Katie Couric, has decided to do a report about young Mr. Lacy's death.
"While Ferguson, Mo., erupted after a grand jury failed to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, another story was playing out some 900 miles away from the cameras — and the outrage.
On the morning of Aug. 29, Lennon Lacy, a 17-year-old African-American high school football player from Bladenboro, N.C., was found dead in the open field of a mobile home park, hanging from a swing set.
When Lennon’s mother, Claudia, arrived on the scene, she felt in her heart that he had not committed suicide. “When I looked at him I knew — I said — I said to myself — I said, ‘He didn't do this... He couldn't have.’"
Local police ruled it a suicide, and the autopsy report recorded the cause of death as “asphyxia due to hanging.” The autopsy report also noted that Lennon “had been depressed over the recent death of his uncle.” Lennon’s brother Pierre disputes that, asking, “How do you psychologically evaluate a dead person? He was just too happy for life.”
The Lacy family says the police rushed to rule Lennon’s death a suicide despite their many unanswered questions such as the shoes Lennon was found wearing – they were a size and a half too small. They say all they want is a thorough investigation before any conclusions are reached.
The president of the North Carolina NAACP, the Rev. William Barber II, says, “The call was made so quick. And what concerns us about that is that if Lennon Lee Lacy was white and was found hanging in a … predominantly black trailer park that was known to have some drug involvement and other things, we just don't believe that it would have been this quick rush to say it was a suicide. It would have been a very, very, very intense investigation.”
The North Carolina NAACP hired an independent pathologist to examine the autopsy report – in the report, questions were raised about the way the body was handled and whether or not it was feasible for Lennon to hang himself from the swing set.
In light of the pathologist’s report, the NAACP requested that U.S. Attorney Thomas Walker of the Eastern District of North Carolina take over the case.
The Bladen County District Attorney’s office said in a statement, “While the investigation is ongoing, and no final determinations have been made, to date we have not received any evidence of criminal wrongdoing surrounding the death.”' [Video]
The local police ruled the death a suicide.
Young Mr. Lennon was dating a 31 year old white woman.
"Suicide"? Ok then......
Finally, another day another unarmed black man killed by the police.
Sadly, this is becoming an epidemic.
I take you to Phoenix, Arizona.
"PHOENIX — The facts surrounding Rumain Brisbon's death — the ones that could be agreed upon as of Wednesday evening — follow a narrative familiar to a nation still reeling from the racially charged police incidents in Ferguson, Mo., New York City and elsewhere.
In Phoenix on Tuesday evening, a white police officer who was feeling threatened used lethal force on an unarmed black man. The incident left the officer unharmed and Brisbon, 34, dead with two bullet wounds in his torso at a north Phoenix apartment complex.
Phoenix police quickly released a detailed account of the killing for the media on Wednesday morning in what officials said was an effort to promote transparency, especially in light of the unrest that has played out in Ferguson and New York City following the deaths of unarmed Black men at the hands of White officers. But portions of that account have already been challenged by some witnesses and community activists who say that the officer's use of force was excessive and that Brisbon's death was unwarranted.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, officers were in the area
of Interstate 17 and Greenway Road for a burglary investigation when a resident of an apartment complex told them that men inside a black Cadillac SUV were engaged in a drug deal, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Police checked the license plate that the tipster provided and found it was registered to a resident in the 15,400 block of North 25th Avenue, where there was also a pending report of a "loud music disturbance."
The loud-music call was canceled, so the officer went to the SUV to ask questions of those inside, Crump said.
The officer said the driver, later identified as Brisbon, got out and appeared to be removing something from the rear of the SUV. The officer told Brisbon to show his hands, but Brisbon stuffed his hands into his waistband, Crump said.
The officer drew his weapon and Brisbon ran toward nearby apartments, Crump said. A short foot chase ensued.
"During the struggle, Brisbon put his left hand in his pocket and the officer grabbed onto the suspect's hand, while repeatedly telling the suspect to keep his hand in his pocket," he said. "The officer believed he felt the handle of a gun while holding the suspect's hand in his pocket."
A woman inside an apartment opened a door at that moment, and the officer and Brisbon tumbled inside, Crump said. Two children, ages 9 and 2, were in a back bedroom, he said.
The officer could no longer keep a grip on Brisbon's hand and, because he feared that the suspect had a gun in his pocket, fired two shots, Crump said.
The item in Brisbon's pocket turned out to be a bottle of oxycodone pills, he said.
Crump said the officers are aware of the delicate nature of the case and are asking the community to allow investigators to gather all the facts." [Source]
There is nothing too "delicate" about it Mr. Crump. A man is dead because a police officer who should be properly trained to handle these types of situations panicked and let his "color arousal issues kick in.
This is the new normal in America.
I guess this is one way to take care of the prison overcrowding problem. Just kill the perp before he goes to trial.
