“A North Carolina state trooper shot dead a deaf and mute man who was apparently trying to communicate using sign language after he was pulled over for a speeding violation.
“Daniel Kevin Harris, 29, a father to a four-year-old boy, was killed just feet from his home in Charlotte by trooper Jermaine Saunders on Thursday evening.
“…witnesses said Harris – who was unarmed – was shot ‘almost immediately’ after he exited his vehicle…”
“They should’ve deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation, you’re pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped,” said [Mark] Barringer[, an eyewitness]. “To me, what happened is totally unacceptable.”
Mr. Barringer, it’s unacceptable to anyone of even minimal decency. The State alone cheers such cold-blooded brutality.
Meanwhile, the Harris family “plan[s] to set up a foundation in [the victim’s] name to ‘educate and provide law enforcement [with] proper training on how to confront deaf people.’” But what if shooting them without provocation is “proper training”?
Cops kill. And the State defends them; indeed, it is already laying the foundation for so doing with this horrific slaughter [“Police say … the driver led authorities on a brief pursuit before stopping,” which of course legitimizes his murder.]
Abolition, not reform or more training, is the only answer. But until organized departments of these thugs no longer prey on us, we need to realize that every time cops “detain” a motorist, his life is in danger. I’ve often wondered what would happen if other drivers stopped and surrounded the cop rather than speeding past. We might need to do nothing else–speak not a word, brandish no weapon. Just simply stop and surround the predator, glaring at and intimidating him, until he desists and leaves us in peace.
9:32 am on August 23, 2016
