feature: police detective cleared in the shooting death of unarmed rekia boyd

As the saying goes, “one step forward, two steps back”. Two weeks ago Michael T. Slager, a South Carolina police officer, found himself charged for the fatal shooting of unarmed Walter Scott – in simpler terms, charged for making a black man his target practice. A crime that so many men have walked away from scott free; so many Mike Browns; so many Tarika Wilsons. The news of Slager’s conviction gave much needed energy to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, reminding many that their tireless activism was paying off. Time Magazine even put “Black Lives Matter” on its front cover for all to plainly see one of the greatest issues somehow still facing the United States. However, it’s now being reported that Dante Servin, the off-duty Chicago detective, who shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in March 2012 with an unregistered firearm, has been cleared of all charges; and instead of walking away silently out of respect for Boyd’s family, the officer had these chilling words to say after his charges were dropped: “Any police officer especially would have reacted in the exact same way I reacted.” Straight from the horse’s mouth! A police officer telling us plainly that his colleagues would have also chosen to approach that group of unarmed black people and to, following a war of words and the unconfirmed sight of a weapon, reach for their gun and shoot (from their car might I add) at the backs of the group as they walked into an alley. WTF?! Read more on the story here.

By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor