On April 29, a police officer of the Dallas Police Department fatally shot Jordan Edwards, an unarmed, 15-year-old, African-American teen, as Edwards and other unarmed teens were driving away from him. Since the killing, Roy Oliver, the officer who fired his rifle into the departing car, has been dismissed from the Dallas Police Department, and his actions have been seriously criticized by both his former employer and the African-American community at large.
“The magnitude of his horrible actions cannot be overstated,” said a statement released from the family of Jordan Edwards. The family has called for murder charges to be brought against Oliver.
According to the Dallas Police Department, the car Edwards was in drove away from police when it was ordered to stop, and the officers encountered the car as they were responding to gunshots in the area.
According to S. Lee Merritt, the attorney of the Edwards family, two of Edwards' brothers were in the car with him as Edwards was shot, and they watched their brother die.
Oliver’s attorney has declined to comment publicly on Edwards' death and an investigation of Oliver’s actions. The Dallas Police Department has yet to release footage of the killing.
On May 2, Joshua DuBois, the former head of President Obama’s Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, posted on Twitter, “I admit to avoiding #JordanEdwards news for much of the day. Hard to process. I am so sick and tired of the slaughter of our children.”
He continued:
“I’d love it if every pastor who’s [sic] preached about reconciliation calls their own police chief and asks about anti-bias training … And I’d love it if we all admitted that our history and present state on race shapes every single one of us. Ask how and go deep … ”
DeRay McKesson, a prominent activist of the Black Lives Matter movement and former Democratic candidate in the 2016 Baltimore mayoral election, posted on Twitter the following, succinct statement.
“#JordanEdwards should be alive today.”
Reuters reporting contributed to this story.
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