Police in Indianapolis chased and shot a young Black man, presumably in the back, on Wednesday evening in the latest instance of preventable violence by law enforcement against African Americans. Sean Reed was live streaming himself on Facebook at the time that he was shot. But what police apparently did not know was that even after they shot and killed him and even shared a laugh over his dead body, they were still being recorded by the Facebook Live session Reed started before he died.
I knew Sean, he was my friend.
He was my wingman in basic training.
me, him, and our crew would always talk about what we wanted for our future. Today I find out that he was murdered in cold blood for being Black in America. A father, son, brother, and a U.S Veteran.#SeanReed pic.twitter.com/0QDhtCiHrv— Zy-Lack (@YoungProdigy987) May 7, 2020
The episode unfolded as the country was reeling from seeing vigilante justice from two white men in Georgia go unpunished after they hunted down a young Black man and shot and killed him in broad daylight under the inexplicable pretenses of making a citizen’s arrest.
Footage of the 21-year-old man’s killing quickly went viral on social media. They follow below. Please use discretion in watching and listening to the videos.
First is the video of Reed running away from police. Dozens of shots can be heard being fired as Reed flees. Before he starts running, Reed parks his car and can be heard pleading to someone, “Please come get me!”
I can barely get past #AmaudArbery today..then my heart is broken once again with #SeanReed. What is happening in our society? pic.twitter.com/h78wO0xEoS
— Ariel (@heyarielouise) May 7, 2020
Next comes the video of cops heard laughing at him and mocking his appearance after shooting him by saying that it will be a “closed casket” funeral.
‘That’s gonna be a closed casket homie’ – pig, after executing a black man..
Yet another hashtag.. sickening.. #SeanReed pic.twitter.com/XMMo21I3BH
— Oskaer
(@Oskaer__13) May 7, 2020
A subsequent interview with a police spokesperson suggested that he was trying to get his story straight.
He can’t even get the damn story straight smh pic.twitter.com/J5enltUGha
— 𝓒.♛ (@disbeatis) May 7, 2020
According to the Indianapolis Star, Reed was driving up to 90 miles per hour when police began chasing him. However, police said they stopped their pursuit because the speeds could endanger others. But when an officer saw Reed’s car driving later on and got out of the police cruiser, that’s supposedly when Reed got out and began running, cops said.
The shooting sparked a peacefully demonstration of about 100 people at the scene of the shooting Wednesday night.
Chants of “no justice no peace.” pic.twitter.com/MVltXejrhE
— Tony Cook (@indystartony) May 7, 2020
Reed’s family said that as of Wednesday night they still had not received any official information about the shooting from police.
Photos of Reed on social media showed him wearing a U.S. military uniform and a tweet from someone who said they were friends and that Reed was a “U.S. Veteran.”
The shooting came as Georgia was under scrutiny for what appeared to be the coverup of a vigilante shooting by two white men of an unarmed Black man in Brunswick, Georgia. Ahmaud Arbery was racially profiled, hunted down and lynched to death by a father and son who have been protected by the state’s law about citizen’s arrests. That shooting has stoked the flames of suspicion about the disparity in reactions by law enforcement to the killing of an unarmed Black man. While that shooting wasn’t done by police, there have been no arrests or charges in that case, prompting outrage across the country. Wednesday’s shooting of Reed certainly didn’t help those matters any.
SEE ALSO:
Legal Precedent Could Protect Suspected Racist Road Rage Killer Of Black Driver
Ahmaud Arbery ‘Lynching’ Grand Jury Could Be Expedited As Demand For Justice Grows
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