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Jonathan Ferrell is seen in an undated photo provided by Florida A&M University. Ferrell,
24, was shot and killed Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013, by North Carolina police officer Randall
Kerrick after a wreck in Charlotte, N.C. Ferrell was unarmed. (AP Photo/Florida A&M University)
If after Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, and Darius Simmons, you thought that you could
be sickened by racist violence but no longer shocked, you need to know the story of Jonathan
Ferrell. This past weekend, as the country remembered the fiftieth anniversary of the
16th St. Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham that took the lives of four little girls,
another *** draped in racism took place, and the details, even in these jaded times,
are shocking.
Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-old former football player at Florida A&M University crashed his
car in Charlotte, North Carolina. The wreck was so awful that Ferrell, according to police
reports, had to climb out of his back window. He somehow stumbled in the middle of the night
to the closest home and pounded on the door—"banging on the door viciously," in the bizarre phrasing
of Charlotte police chief Rodney Monroe—and begged for help. According to police reports,
the person inside didn't call an ambulance but hit her alarm panic button, indicating
to police that a home invasion was in progress. As the Charlotte PD approached, Ferrell continued
to "attempt to gain the attention of the homeowner." When they arrived, Ferrell "charged" toward
them. One of the three officers tasered Ferrell. When that did not stop his "advance", 27-year-old
Officer Randall Kerrick opened fire, hitting Jonathan Ferrell ten times - initial media
reports said three times - killing him at the scene.
Officer Kerrick was the only policeman to take out his gun and fire, which raises questions
about their description of Ferrell as "charging" towards them after being tasered. According
to The Charlotte Observer, police actually said initially that Kerrick's actions were
"appropriate and lawful." Yet the brazenness of the shooting, the absence of any evidence
Ferrell was under the influence of anything other than a possible concussion, and the
fact that there was really no way to spin this, meant that Kerrick was quickly arrested
and charged with voluntary manslaughter. According to North Carolina law, "voluntary manslaughter"
means that Kerrick acted with "imperfect self-defense." The police statement said that "the evidence
revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that
the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive. Our investigation has shown that
Officer Kerrick did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter."
Jonathan Ferrell was a member of Florida A&M's 2010 championship team. He was going to turn
25 in October and was engaged to be married. He was called "the shepherd" for the way he
looked after those around him. His mother Georgia and twin brother Willie Ferrell, who
also played on Florida A&M team, spoke to CNN this morning, their shocked sadness on
full display. His college coach, Earl Holmes, was "stunned", saying, "I was saddened when
they told me. They told me he was murdered. I said, 'What? ***? That doesn't sound
like him. Not the Jonathan I remembered.' The Jonathan I remembered was a soft-spoken
kid, quiet and to himself.... A lot of times bad things happen to good people."
But they don't just "happen." One of the reasons there was so much media and mainstream outrage
around the *** of Trayvon Martin was because he wasn't killed at the hands of police. When
the police kill an unarmed black or brown male, the media, the political establishment,
and even many mainstream civil rights organizations are inclined to give them a major benefit
of the doubt. One can ask the families of Ramarley Graham or Sean Bell if that sounds
about right. Being stopped by police for DWB (Driving While Black) is outrage enough. Being
killed by police for SHWB (Seeking Help While Black) demands a response.