Lavish Reynolds live streamed a video on Facebook, during the aftermath of a fatal encounter with the police over a broken tail-light.
Lavish Reynolds’ boyfriend was “licensed to carry” a firearm, and had notified the officer that he was carrying, but was shot multiple times by a police after reaching for his driver’s license at the officer’s request.
Initially, Reynolds calmly reacts and films as the police officer, who is noticeably rattled, and is yelling “I told him not to reach for it.”
This is all happening as her boyfriend is bleeding severely after being shot multiple times and bleeds out, live on Facebook. Reynolds’ daughter is also present in the car and witnesses the horrific scene.
Multiple police vehicles show up, and officers first work to detain Reynolds and her daughter before any ambulances show up or any medical assistance is given to her severely injured boyfriend. The police officers never check his pulse or give him medical assistance.
The proliferation of phone camera technology, and especially the ability to stream to Facebook or a cloud based server is enlightening the populace to some of the abuses experienced by people at the hands of the police.
A broken tail light, a little marijuana in the car, and an LTC led to a tragic death. This is yet another case of over-policing.
When police are pressured by their departments to confront people who are selling CD’s or cigarettes withouts a license, or ID passengers within a vehicle during a routine traffic stop, the odds of violent and fatal confrontations will continue to rise.
It is clear that police tactics need to change, but so does their fundamental role. Laws that require police to confront people who are not harming others, introduces coercion to a scenario that would otherwise be void of violence.
We need less laws and statutes that allocate policing resources to areas designed to reap fines from non-violent crimes such as ‘jay walking’, and more Oath Keepers and peace officers that preserve their Oath of Honor to the Constitution that all members of the police and military have sworn.
Good post Rory. If there is a positive anywhere in this issue, it’s that Police forces are adopting body and car cameras so that they will know they are being monitored and that excessive force and/or abuse will be there for the world to see.