Rep. Bowen: Statement on verdict in Heaggan-Brown trial
“The second shot was clearly unjustified on video with Mr. Smith on his back with his hands in clear view."
Milwaukee – State Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement after the verdict in the Dominique Heaggan-Brown trial:
“Anytime someone loses a loved one it’s a sad situation. When families lose a loved one in a preventable situation by a system that should be there to protect and serve them it’s a deep-rooted, painful & traumatic situation.
“The second shot was clearly unjustified on video with Mr. Smith on his back with his hands in clear view. The fact that officers did not use de-escalation practices and are accused of other abuses shows our system is in need of desperate change immediately.
“The family of Sylville Smith and those angered over his death last year deserve to know their loss will make our community and system better. Nothing has changed since last year and no one has apologized or even committed to preventing these situations.
“That is even more painful as people have to make an active decision to put hope in a system that has done little to produce the integrity that the public is calling for. Those concerned about this, I want you to know I hear you. Those who want progress, I apologize that we as a society are not in a better place. While my hope has been shaken in this moment, I am committed to fighting for that change even more. I call on all people to join me and not give up hope. I encourage you to use your energy to work toward the implementation of best prevention practices to ensure everyone can make it back home to their families safely.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Those of you who vociferously defended the actions of white officers like Christopher Manney and Michael Truax must be celebrating the verdict. Why are you all so quiet?
Vincent, I’m not sure what you’re looking for. Uusually those who defend the officers are responding to protesters who don’t even know all the details. I don’t see many of them now that the video came out… so it’s probably why I don’t see a lot of defenders either. This wasn’t no Jeronimo Yanez… who clearly should have been held responsible. In this case you had a criminal, running from police, with a gun, who picked up the gun, and who turned towards the cop.
I’m just venting AG. I know you can appreciate that. It feels like there was so much discussion and debate surrounding the actions of Manney especially and also Truax, with so many defending the actions of each, yet I don’t recall much if any defense of Heaggan-Brown’s actions, particularly since the trial started.
I do get it. I just was not sure if you think it’s because of his race or because of… umm…. his other “actions.” It’s why I brought up Yanez, he’s not white but there are still defenders of his, even though it was obvious he freaked out and Castille’s death was completely his fault. I suppose you’re going to have defenders either way that will stick to their position no matter what.
Yeah I wasn’t thinking about Yanez as much as local incidents, the Manney and Truax shootings. My perception (which could be wrong) is that the actions of those officers were defended much more, here and elsewhere, while there wasn’t as much defense of Heaggan-Brown. Tell me if I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it.
You could be right… My impression was that there was just as much defense, until he got caught in his other “transgressions”… and then people just didn’t want to talk about it unless feeling they had to respond to defenders of Smith. But this also wasn’t your prototypical white cop/unarmed black man incident either, so the BLM wasn’t behind it as much as time went on. But I have absolutely nothing to base that on… so I too could be off.
I also have wondered if it has to do with his other pending charges. That is entirely possible.