In a number of closely watched cases involving the deaths of young black men, police have been acquitted, generating uproar and concerns about equal justice for all. On Staten Island, N.Y., the July 2014 death of Eric Garner because of the apparent use of a “chokehold” by an officer sparked outrage. A month later in Ferguson, Mo., the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson ignited protests, and a grand jury’s decision not to indict Wilson triggered further unrest. In November, Tamir Rice was shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 12 years old and playing with a toy pistol. On April 4, 2015, Walter L. Scott was shot by a police officer after a routine traffic stop in North Charleston, S.C. The same month, Freddie Gray died while in police custody in Baltimore, setting off widespread unrest. The policeman in the South Carolina case, Michael T. Slager, was charged with murder based on a cellphone video. In Baltimore, the driver of the police van in which Gray died, Caesar Goodson, was charged with second-degree murder, with lesser charges for five other officers. There have been no indictments in the earlier cases.
Police seem to think they have the right to mistreat, brutalize and even kill the very people they are meant to serve. But with every life taken, law enforcement is exposed bit by bit for being the source of violence rather than its remedy. Instead of “protecting and serving,” as police slogans often declare, far too many officers and their allies have attacked and killed. Members of the criminal justice system are willing participants in this process, refusing time after time to punish murderous cops and give justice to victims and their families. As Smith’s mother lamented after Stockley’s acquittal: “The judge made the wrong decision. No one speaks for Anthony but my family. I have no justice. I can never be at peace.” People will continue to protest in St. Louis, Ferguson, Los Angeles, Chicago and across the United States for as long as justice for the victims of police killing remains elusive. Until black lives begin to actually matter, there can be no peace.