Tag Archives: John Crawford

Activism, Police Accountability

Black Lives Matter, Anonymous, and Open Carry Activists Unite for John Crawford Rally

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On Wednesday, August 5th, activists in Ohio marked the one year anniversary of the shooting of John Crawford III. The 22-year old was shot by a Beavercreek police officer after being seen holding a BB gun inside the Wal-Mart near Dayton, Ohio. A grand jury would later find that the officer innocent of murder. Federal authorities are still reviewing the case.

The activists came from a range of groups including Greene County Black Lives Matter, Anonymous #OpJohnCrawford, Beavercreek CopBlock and Ohio Open Carry. The Greene County BLM had planned a protest and “die-in” outside the Wal-Mart where Crawford was shot. The group carried a black coffin through the parking lot to the front door of the Wal-Mart. The planned protests prompted the store managers to close down for the evening.

Ohio Open Carry stated that their demonstration was part of an effort to “remind the nation that open carry is legal and that police are not above our most basic human rights.”

However, not all of the activists involved appreciated the open carry groups’ message. According to Counter Current News:

“Many of the participants in Greene County Black Lives Matter did not like the idea of having firearms at a protest, and some controversy arose when they delineated “rules of conduct” that included “no firearms.”

The other activist groups noted that they had long planned their protests and had been a regular presence at the location, with the continued blessing of John’s mother Tressa.

Just two days before the protest, at the request of a handful of activists and John’s mother, representatives from local Anonymous groups, Beavercreek CopBlock, Black Lives Matter and Ohio Open Carry sat down and hashed things out like grown ups.”

The protest went on without major conflict between the activist groups, and with no arrests reported.

Following the protest at Wal-Mart, John Crawford III’s parents gathered with the activists and spoke to a large crowd about the importance of taking action against violent police officers.

At one point John Crawford Sr. told the crowd, “How many people right now are bearing arms? If everyone out here would have held their hand up we wouldn’t have to worry about any problems.”

John Crawford Sr. went on to tell the crowd that, “You can’t reason with a bully. You have to eventually fight that bully. You have to let him know that win, lose or draw, I’m gonna fight you every day.”

The elder Crawford reminded the crowd that their numbers were greater than the police, stating, “You have a right to defend yourself. You have a right defend your family. You have that right – a Godly right and a Constitutional right.”

Despite the powerful words, John Crawford Sr. expressed that he was not promoting the use of violence against police, but rather the of self-defense.

“I’m not advocating death. I’m simply saying, inevitably it may go down that way. If it continues to go like its going now it will go down that way cause you can only push people for so long before they’re going to strike back!”

Featured, Politics, US

Senator Boxer Proposes “Look-Alike Weapons Safety” Bill To Curb Future Police Shootings

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Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced legislation on Wednesday titled the Look-Alike Weapons Safety Act of 2015. Boxer described the legislation as an effort to prevent shootings by police in situations where an officer believes a fake gun might be real, as in the 2014 fatal shootings of 12-year-old Tamir Rice and 22-year-old John Crawford at the hands of police.

The bill would grant the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) authority to “regulate all imitation firearms, including airsoft, BB and pellet-firing guns” and require “the exterior surface of all such products sold in the United States to be painted a particular color or combination of colors so they are clearly distinguishable from real firearms.”

According to Cleveland.com, federal law currently requires airsoft pellet guns to have a painted orange piece on the tip, but not BB guns. The toy gun that Tamir Rice had in his possession when he was shot was reportedly missing its orange tip.

A similar bill, California Senate Bill 199 also known as the Imitation Firearm Safety Act, was signed in California last fall requiring that replica guns in the state be painted on the “entire exterior in bright colors or having florescent strips on their salient parts.” That law will take effect on January 1st, 2016.

Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece (D-Cincinatti) announced plans the day after Tamir was shot to introduce a bill called “John Crawford’s Law”, a bill “modeled after California Senate Bill 199”, mandating that all BB guns, air rifles and airsoft guns sold in Ohio bear bright colors or fluorescent strips.

“No child should ever die because a police officer or anyone else mistakes a toy gun for a real weapon,” Senator Boxer said in a press release. “This legislation will protect our kids and help law enforcement by making sure that imitation firearms cannot be mistaken for real firearms.”

Featured, Opinion, Police Accountability, Police State, Politics, US

(Video) Cleveland’s Police Union Leader Defends Officer’s Killing Of Tamir Rice: “When We Tell You To Do Something, Do It”

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Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Union President Jeffrey Follmer shared tough words with Ari Melber regarding the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice on MSNBC’s All In Monday night, defending the actions of Officer Tim Loehmann and concluding that unwavering compliance from citizens is necessary to avoid death at the hands of police.

Tamir Rice was shot and killed by Loehmann- an officer who was declared too emotionally unstable to continue working at his former department in Independence- seconds after he and another officer encountered Rice. The video of the incident appears to have contradicted the account given by police, who had said that officers told the boy to put his hands up several times.

The beginning of the discussion between Melber and Follmer was focused on the story of Cleveland Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins, who wore a shirt that read “Justice for Tamir Brown and John Crawford” last Sunday. Follmer had expressed his disgust over Hawkin’s choice of clothing and sent a statement to NewsNet 5 in Cleveland that said “It’s pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law. They should stick to what they know best on the field.” Follmer also demanded an apology from the Browns.

The discussion gradually shifted to the shooting of Rice. “Don’t you think at a certain point that this kind of reaction risks feeding the perception that some of these police unions or some folks here don’t think they’re accountable to public views?” asked Melber.

“You know, there’s a video of this, and everything speaks for itself. The male’s action spoke for itself. The video clearly shows, and by the officers’ statement, that they were justified  in the deadly force,” said Follmer.

“You’re saying that the video clearly shows that the 12-year-old boy was an imminent lethal threat to the officers?” Melber asked.

“Oh, absolutely. I don’t know if you didn’t see it, but yeah absolutely,” Follmer replied.

“What do you think about the concern people have, that folks are being killed in some cases by officers when there’s less than a lethal threat posed?” Melber asked Follmer later on.

“How about this? Listen to police officer’s commands, listen to what we tell us, tell you, and just stop,” Follmer said. “I think that eliminates a lot of problems. I have kids too, they know how to respect the law, they know what to do when a police officer comes up to them. I think the nation needs to realize that when we tell you to do something, do it. And if you’re wrong, you’re wrong. If you’re right, then the courts will figure it out.”