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The following post was actually shared by actress Wanda Sykes:
Repost from @yourhumanrightsllawyer
For those saying “watch the bodycam footage” in relation to the killing of #MakhiaBryant:
You’re missing the point.
Yes, she was armed with a knife. Yes, she was actively brandishing it at the time. But police officers are not given a blank check to shoot and kill on sight in the way they did here. The bodycam footage makes very clear that the officer in question made ZERO intermediate attempts to disarm or restrain Ma’Khia. ZERO.
Photos show that he had his taser on him. Why didn’t he use it? Why wasn’t his first instinct to tase in order to repel rather than shoot in order to kill? Why didn’t he move towards her and grab her when she came running forward? Why didn’t he come forward to shield the woman in pink and try to physically disarm Ma’Khia? Why instead did he *IMMEDIATELY* reach for and discharge his firearm without taking a single intermediary step?
Was he really so panicked by a single teenaged girl holding what looked like a relatively small knife? Are you really prepared to accept and justify such amateur policing, even though it results in the execution of a child?
The point is that Ma’Khia brandishing a weapon does not justify her killing. Her death was the result of a complete failure of police officers to deescalate the very situations for which they should expect to be called. Her death was the product of an immediate resort to extreme and fatal use of force, which has become the rule rather than the exception, and one that constantly affects communities of color.
It’s unacceptable and we demand better.
