I know you heard the old saying, ” Just because I am pro-black doesn’t mean I am anti white.” Most of us are not. We have friends of different colors just as others do, except for the racist. They can come for it if they want it. Anyway, one of the most heartbreaking police shootings I have ever come across involved a young white man named Daniel Shavers. It was a terrible wretched killing and I won’t forget it in my lifetime.
On January 18, 2016, at a La Quinta Inn and Suites in Mesa Arizona, police received a report that someone with a rifle had been at the window of a hotel room. Inside the room were Monique Portillo, Luis Nunez and Daniel Shaver. He had invited the friends there for drinks. Daniel worked in a store and was showing his friend the air rifle he used to drive birds away on the inside of the store. You are probably familiar with the type of store he was telling his friends about. Something like a Home Depot or Sams Club, just a large barn with merchandise in it.Anyway at some point Daniel pointed the gun through the window. Someone saw it and called the police.
Nunez had left sometime earlier and it was just Daniel and Monique in the room. When the police arrived the banged on the door and ordered the occupants out. There were six heavily armed police in the hallway waiting for them. They were given orders to comply or they would be seen as a threat and would be shot. They were told this several times. “Come out the room and lie flat on the ground with your arms stretched out in front to you!!” They instructed Portillo to raise up on her hand , and then from that knelling position, raise her arms in the air. An officer approached her, handcuffed her and she was taken into custody unharmed.
Police Sergeant Charles Langley then ordered Daniel, who was lying down on the floor with his arms outstretched to cross his legs and push himself up to a kneeling position. While following the officers instructions, Daniel uncrossed his legs. Langley then yelled out,” You need to keep your legs crossed!!”Confused Daniel put his hand behind him, and Shaver yelled again, “Put your hands in the air!!” And if he deviated from his instructions, then he would be shot. Langley told Daniel no to put your hands down for any reason. Daniel begged him not to shoot him. ” Please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me.” The guy was crying. Daniel was then instructed to crawl on all fours toward the officers. Daniel put his hands down and began crawling. While crawling towards the officers, Daniel’s pants began to slip down. As he reached to pull them back up with one hand, Officer Philip Brailsford opened fire with an AR-15, striking Daniel five times and killing him instantly. Brailsford is in the picture above.
Daniel was unarmed. An autopsy report revealed he was intoxicated and had a blood count 3 times the legal diving limit. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed second degree murder charges against Brailsford. Brailsford pleaded not guilty. Shortly after the killing, Brailsford was fired from the police force, unsatisfactory performance and policy violations. For instance, he had engraved his police issue weapon with the phrase “You’ re fucked” and “Molon labe,” a Greek expression meaning “come and take them.” He also had violations for using unnecessary force. Based on the police body cam footage, the prosecutor wanted 25 years. On December 7, 2017 after a six week trial, a jury acquitted Brailsford of all charges. Last year the Justice Department opened its own investigation into the killing, saying they were investigating the killing as a civil rights violation.
Although there is currently a $75 million wrongful death lawsuit going through the courts, none of the officers involved in the shoot have faced any penalties and Brailsford remains free. Below is a video of the vile act and I want to warn my readers that the video is graphic and shows the senseless killing of another human being.
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