Not killed. Murdered.
I know this for a fact simply by the admission of Chief Mylett.
I have heard him say on several occasions that an officer must be able to account for every single bullet that leaves the barrel of his gun. As soon as the threat is eliminated they must stop firing.
By that definition these 8 anonymous officers must account for 90+ bullets that came out of their guns. If one single bullet came out of one gun that was unnecessary, it is murder. Plain and simple.
How do you account for 90 bullets, 46 of which made contact with Jayland, as a direct need to stop an imminent threat of an unarmed man? I’m telling you, you can’t do it.
Definitely don't forget that Jayland was unarmed. So NONE of the bullets on that scene were from him.
Jayland Walker was murdered by 8 anonymous police officers.
I feel this is important to say before the grand jury is sat for these murderers.
A special grand jury will meet Monday in Akron to determine whether charges will be filed against eight police officers who fatally shot Jayland Walker last summer.
These anonymous grand jurists picked from all of Summit County (where 15% of the population is Black, while 30% of the Akron population is Black) will determine if any, all or none of these anonymous officers will be indicted.
Everyone is preparing for ZERO indictments. None of these police officers will be charged. Their names will never be released. And they will continue working on the Akron police force as they are currently doing right now.
And then the Walker family will not be able to create a civil lawsuit against the officers because of Qualified Immunity. There will be no justice for Jayland. Get it out of your head. It’s not happening as long as these powerful asshole white men run this show.
All you have to do is read the room. Look around. They are preemptively meeting with the community to explain the situation. They are preemptively boarding up windows. They know a storm is coming.
I’m writing this piece now for a couple reasons.
Meanwhile, do they ever for one instant think about how at risk young Black men feel in this city? They aren’t anonymous. They aren’t hiding behind a system that does everything in its power to protect them. They are sitting ducks to be murdered by the government at any time. Young Black men only walk the streets of Akron at the pleasure of out-of-town white cops.
Akron police are tone deaf. They protect themselves while terrifying all of us. (I’ll certainly be put on a list of people to watch, if I’m not already.) They know me. But we don’t know them.
If I’m wrong and there is actual justice for Jayland, then forget all of what I’m saying here. I was wrong. America is truly a place for liberty and justice for all.
But if the truth unveils itself yet again that there in fact isn’t liberty and justice for all, it’s liberty and justice for a few powerful white men and their military, then keep reading.
I have never told anyone how to protest. Least of all a Black person.
If you decide to burn it all to the ground you are certainly justified for doing so.
On August 22, 1900, a riot erupted in Akron, Ohio that would live on to be called the “darkest night in Akron’s history.” The cause of the riot occurred the day before, on August 21, 1900, when Louis Peck, an African-American, was arrested for assaulting six year old Christina Maas, who was white. Peck was caught the next morning and confessed to the crime. The local newspapers printed stories of the heinous crime. One paper’s story was published in red ink and exaggerated the story of Peck’s confession, causing extreme anger and malice to spread throughout the city. That evening, a mob started to form in the city streets with the intention of lynching Peck for his crime. City buildings were burned to the ground, two young children were killed in a crossfire of bullets, and the National Guard was eventually called in to restore order to the city. Peck was removed from the city to Cleveland during the riot and was found guilty in record time and sentenced to life in prison. He did not even have any legal representation as no one would defend him. In 1913, Governor Cox pardoned Peck, citing the lack of a fair trial.
https://ndnpohio.ohiohistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AkronRiot.pdf
You should also learn about the 1968 Wooster Avenue riots. This is a great recap:
Wooster Avenue riots: Civil unrest of 1968 comes home to Akron
We’ve burned city buildings to the ground before. I feel like the tension in Akron is congealing and getting thick. I see no reason why it couldn't happen again. Right now. The Summer of 2023 is going to be hot.
In 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. said “a riot is the language of the unheard.” In 2023 we say, “Fuck around and find out.”
It’s the same thing.
You have every right to be filled with rage and hatred. In fact, I’d actually like to see a little more of that sometimes. I usually just see dead eyes from people who have lost all hope of a better life. Like docile cows that have accepted their fate of just being meat for a machine with a bottomless pit of consumption.
There is nothing you could do that would come anywhere near the murder, torture and suffering the American machine has done to you and your family for 400 years.
If you want to burn it to the ground I won’t be the one to tell you not to.
But I will tell you about another way.
I believe in the power of hatred and anger. I believe in the power of Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker is the power of vengeance. His mother was a slave who died in his arms. And the love of his life, Padme, died in childbirth. Anakin was powerless to stop any of it, even though he should have been able to. We are all Anakin. Our loved ones are dying in our arms and we are powerless to stop it.
I also believe in the power of love and hope. I believe in the power of Jesus. (Jesus is a better character than Luke Skywalker. Sorry. It’s true.) It’s a force of direct action. It isn’t passive. It’s violent too. But it’s violent and filled with rage because of the power of love and hope. Jesus leans into the death and torture and suffering. He takes it on himself. He begs to be the sacrificial lamb. And with that bloody death we have Easter. A rebirth. Nothing dies. Everything is born again. Everything. We are all the sacrificial lamb. We are all living a life of pain and suffering, only to be born again and again and again. Forever.
Vengeance violence destroys. Hope and love violence builds and creates. I think you need both. The Force demands to be balanced.
They often can look very similar. But they have very different outcomes.
Smashing some windows and setting some dumpsters on fire is cathartic. Please watch some TikTok videos of what is happening in France for inspiration: https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=france&t=1680785736731
But it does nothing for building things, for making a better world. You’ll march and burn and smash until all your energy is gone. And then we’ll just go right back to the way things are.
Another option would be to take that seething rage and do real damage. Destroy the system at its core. VOTE ON MAY 2, 2023.
I know that sounds so lame. It is embarrassing to even write down. But it’s the truth.
Democracy is a mother fucker. It takes the control away from those assholes who are fucking you.
And you have real candidates to vote for.
After those fucking assholes go free, flood the streets and organize. Use your energy to not burn down a couple buildings. BURN DOWN THE ENTIRE FUCKING SYSTEM.
You are being handed a golden gift from the universe. A true Easter Miracle.
You can’t control what the police do or what the grand jury does. But you CAN control what you do. ORGANIZE. ORGANIZE. ORGANIZE. That’s how you kill the system that is killing you.
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