“I don’t know.”
That’s the response the North Miami police officer gave to shooting victim Charles Kinsey, when he asked why the officer opened fire as he lay flat on the ground, hands outstretched to prove he was no threat to the police.
“I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong,” Kinsey, 47, told WSVN from his hospital bed. The Miami Herald reports he suffered a bullet wound to the leg and is expected to be released from Jackson Memorial Hospital on Thursday.
Kinsey’s story is reminiscent of numerous shootings involving the police, in which an unarmed Black suspect is tragically shot and killed. Fortunately, Kinsey is still alive to tell his story, but the trauma of his experience will linger on.
As the July shooting deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, five Dallas officers, and three Baton Rouge cops stays top of mind, it presents a critical conversation for national law enforcement on policing in minority communities, with an added topic of mental health disparities among African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups.
What led up to the shooting began on Monday at the MacTown Panther Group Homes, where Kinsey works as a mental health counselor. He was called outside to retrieve an autistic patient who wandered into the street to play with a toy truck.
Kinsey was just doing his job when police arrived at the scene. Officers, on the other hand, say they received a call reporting an armed man was in the street, threatening to commit suicide.
Cell phone footage released Wednesday shows Kinsey trying to de-escalate the situation, telling his patient to be still and to lie down, while locked in an unthreatening position.
“I was more worried about him than myself,” Kinsey said, according to WSVN. The autistic patient’s name hasn’t been released.
North Miami Police Department’s spokeswoman Natalie Buissereth released the following statement: “Arriving officers attempted to negotiate with the two men on the scene, one of whom was later identified as suffering from autism… At some point during the on-scene negotiation, one of the responding officers discharged his weapon.”
After they shot him, officers rushed Kinsey, searched his body and handcuffed him.
“They flipped me over, and I’m faced down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come.” Kinsey said. “I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding — I mean bleeding and I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Kinsey’s lawyer Hilton Napoleon told WSVN he’s livid. “There’s no justification for shooting an unarmed person who’s talking to you and telling you that they don’t have a gun, and that they’re a mental health counselor,” Napoleon said. The Herald reports Kinsey and Napoleon are in settlement talks with the city of North Miami.
Police are staying mum on the incident – they haven’t released the name of the responding officer who fired at Kinsey, but have placed him on administrative leave. In response, the state attorney is looking into the investigation, WSVN reports.
There have been no reports that a gun was found near the scene, according to The Miami Herald.
SOURCE: WSVN, Miami Herald | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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58 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
58 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
1. Ryan Twyman, 24
1 of 582. Brandon Webber, 20
2 of 583. Jimmy Atchison, 21
3 of 584. Willie McCoy, 20
4 of 585. Emantic "EJ" Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21
5 of 586. D’ettrick Griffin, 18
6 of 587. Jemel Roberson, 26
Source:false 7 of 588. DeAndre Ballard, 23
Source:false 8 of 589. Botham Shem Jean, 26
Source:false 9 of 5810. Antwon Rose Jr., 17
Source:false 10 of 5811. Robert Lawrence White, 41
Source:false 11 of 5812. Anthony Lamar Smith, 24
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12 of 58
13. Ramarley Graham, 18
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13 of 58
14. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31
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14 of 58
15. Trayvon Martin, 17
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15 of 58
16. Wendell Allen, 20
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16 of 58
17. Kendrec McDade, 19
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17 of 58
18. Larry Jackson Jr., 32
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18 of 58
19. Jonathan Ferrell, 24
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19 of 58
20. Jordan Baker, 26
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20 of 58
21. Victor White lll, 22
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21 of 58
22. Dontre Hamilton, 31
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22 of 58
23. Eric Garner, 43
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23 of 58
24. John Crawford lll, 22
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24 of 58
25. Michael Brown, 18
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25 of 58
26. Ezell Ford, 25
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26 of 58
27. Dante Parker, 36
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27 of 58
28. Kajieme Powell, 25
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28 of 58
29. Laquan McDonald, 17
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29 of 58
30. Akai Gurley, 28
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30 of 58
31. Tamir Rice, 12
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31 of 58
32. Rumain Brisbon, 34
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32 of 58
33. Jerame Reid, 36
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33 of 58
34. Charly Keunang, 43
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34 of 58
35. Tony Robinson, 19
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35 of 58
36. Walter Scott, 50
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36 of 58
37. Freddie Gray, 25
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37 of 58
38. Brendon Glenn, 29
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38 of 58
39. Samuel DuBose, 43
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39 of 58
40. Christian Taylor, 19
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40 of 58
41. Jamar Clark, 24
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41 of 58
42. Mario Woods, 26
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42 of 58
43. Quintonio LeGrier, 19
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43 of 58
44. Gregory Gunn, 58
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44 of 58
45. Akiel Denkins, 24
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45 of 58
46. Alton Sterling, 37
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46 of 58
47. Philando Castile, 32
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47 of 58
48. Terrence Sterling, 31
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48 of 58
49. Terence Crutcher, 40
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49 of 58
50. Keith Lamont Scott, 43
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50 of 58
51. Alfred Olango, 38
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51 of 58
52. Jordan Edwards, 15
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52 of 58
53. Stephon Clark, 22
Source:false 53 of 5854. Danny Ray Thomas, 34
Source:false 54 of 5855. DeJuan Guillory, 27
Source:false 55 of 5856. Patrick Harmon, 50
56 of 5857. Jonathan Hart, 21
57 of 5858. Maurice Granton, 24
58 of 58
Continue reading 58 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
58 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
The troubling trend of police killing unarmed Black people has shown no signs of letting up, from Tamir Rice to Botham Shem Jean to Ryan Twyman to Brandon Webber, there appears to be a new shooting every week. See Also: Alabama Cops Never Notified EJ Bradford’s Family After Mistakenly Killing Him, Aunt Says Take a look below at the growing gallery of unarmed Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police.
Unbelivable: Unarmed Black Therapist Shot While Calming Autistic Man was originally published on newsone.com
