Law enforcement in Los Angeles are no strangers to being on the wrong end of the fight for police brutality. If you’re old enough, you remember the Rodney King controversy, and if you’re not, you probably remember someone older than you mentioning it before. You see, police brutality in this country has been around since then and for much longer. It’s just getting much more fatal.
August 31, police in L.A. murdered yet another black man throwing gasoline on the burning rage that so many Americans are already feeling. Activists are calling for police transparency and for the officers responsible for the shooting to be prosecuted.
The questions arise that, if police departments, especially police in L.A., are getting massive amounts of funding for “riot gear” and rubber bullets to maim protestors, then where are the body cams? Why isn’t footage of the event being reviewed somewhere for these people to be brought to justice?
Lt. Brandon Dean said that two deputies were driving when they saw a man riding his bike in violation of vehicle codes. Unsurprisingly, Dean could not name the specific code that the man supposedly broke. The deputies supposedly tried to contact the man who dropped his bicycle and broke into a run. The deputies pursued him and allegedly tried to make contact with him again. The man then dropped a bundle of clothing he was carrying where the deputies supposedly saw a black handgun, after which BOTH officers opened fire and killed the man.
Sheriff’s officials said that a handgun was recovered from the scene, but doesn’t it seem strange that someone who dropped their gun and was running away was shot anyway? Dijon Kizzee, the victim, was shot an unknown amount of times. Family members said that Kizzee was a plumber that was currently out of work and was just visiting some friends in the area. Kizzee’s uncle said that he and other residents in the neighborhood spent Tuesday morning cleaning Kizzee’s blood off the sidewalk.
The deputies that opened fire claimed that Kizzee punched one of them, but witnesses say that they never saw such a thing happen, but they did hear between 8 and 11 shots. They said that even after Kizzee was on the ground, they continued to fire.
Liz Trejo, who is just 16 years old, heard gunfire, and then the hysterical screams and cries of her mother. She came outside to her mother, saying, “They killed him.” This is the second victim of police brutality on their block in the past few months. The other was a young Latino man who was shot in front of his home.
One resident said that she thinks the entire neighborhood will need counseling. She was one of many who saw Kizzee’s body. Her father said that law enforcement handcuffed Kizzee after they had bombarded him with bullets and refused the pleas of residents to cover up his body. Kizzee’s body was not removed until around midnight or a little after, nine entire hours after he was killed.
This is just another story with the same ending and a different name. How many times will the people who are supposedly employed to protect and serve continue to murder the people it’s meant to protect? When did the justice system become shoot first and ask questions later or guilty until proven innocent? The fact of the matter is that police brutality is a plague in this country, and something drastic needs to be done urgently. Black lives are in danger for simply existing. How much longer will we have to beg for basic human decency?
-Kaitlan Darby
