A List of Cases of Police Brutality

Unfortunately, in the end of May, when the country is celebrating Memorial Day and paying respect to the soldiers who have died fighting for our country, it doesn’t recognize the victims of police brutality. Sadly, this drama with the very people who are supposed to protect us is becoming a war in itself. In honor of Oscar Grant, let’s take to time to remember this international list of victims of senseless police cruelty.

1.     Oscar Juliuss Grant III (February 27, 1986 – January 1, 2009) African-American. Shot in the back and killed by a BART police officer in Oakland in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

2.     Sean Bell (May 18, 1983 – November 25, 2006) African-American. Shot fifty times and killed by plainclothes and undercover NYPD cops during Bell’s bachelor party in Queens, NY.

3.     Jean-Charles de Menezes (January 7, 1978 – July 22, 2005). Brazilian. Shot seven times and killed by London Metropolitan after being mistaken for a fugitive in a failed bombing attempt.

4.     Amadou Diallo (September 2, 1975 – February 4, 1999) Guinean. Shot 41 times and killed in the Bronx by four NYPD officers after he pulled out a wallet that was misidentified as a gun.

5.     Patrick Moses Dorismond (1974-2000). American. Shot and killed by an undercover police officer after being unsuccessfully propositioned for marijuana.

6.     Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965) African-American. Brutally beaten by several LAPD officers in 1991 after being pulled over.

7.     Abner Louima (1966) Haitian. Brutally beaten and sodomized with a bathroom plunger in 1997 after being arrested and held in a Brooklyn precinct.

8.     Ousmane Zongo (died May 22, 2003) Burkinabe. Shot four times (twice in the back) and killed by NYPD cops during a raid of CD and DVD pirating operation which he was not a part of.

9.     Kathryn Johnston (June 26, 1914 - November 21, 2006). African-American. 92 year-old woman shot six times and killed by undercover officers in Atlanta after a botched raid.

10.  Anthony O'Brien "Dudley" George (March 17, 1957 – September 7, 1995). Native American. Shot and killed by Ontario Provincial Police after protesting Canadian government’s seizure of Indian land.

11.  Anthony Ramon Baez (1965 – 1994) Had a fatal asthmatic attack after being arrested in Bronx for refusing end a pickup football game.

12.  Malice Green (died November 5, 1992). African-American. Beaten to death by police in Detroit after refusing to hand over a vial of crack cocaine.

13.  Arthur McDuffie (c. 1946 - 1979) African-American. Killed by Miami-Dade police officers who cracked his skull after being arrested for traffic violations.

14.  Stephen Bantu Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) South-African. Died from massive head injuries after protesting apartheid and being arrested in Pretoria.

15.  Benno Ohnesorg (October 15, 1940 – June 2, 1967) German. Shot and killed by a plain-clothes officer during a demonstration in West Berlin.

Please help me add anyone I’ve neglected to this list. The world needs to see that police brutality is a dangerous epidemic.