More than three months ago, Olayemi Olurin, a public defender, appeared on The Hill's web series Rising and discussed the Ohio case of Jayland Walker as one of several examples of police killings. Walker was shot 60 times when Akron police officers fired some 90 shots at him, then handcuffed his lifeless body. The incident began as an attempted traffic stop that police said escalated when Walker led them on a high-speed chase and a gun was fired from his car.
“I guess I just don’t have a lot of sympathy in this particular case,” journalist Robby Soave said. Appearing shocked, Olurin interrupted Soave to restate some of the details of the case. “You don’t have a lot of sympathy in this case where he was shot 60 times?” she asked.
Soave responded: “After leading police on a high-speed chase and returning fire?”
It’s the kind of perception activists too frequently have to contend with in advocating for justice for Black and brown people killed at the hands of police. Those in Akron are still fighting, planning a march Monday afternoon for justice in Walker’s case. He was killed on June 27.
RELATED STORY: 60 bullets, then cuffed him. Akron law & order
Warning: Videos in this story contain footage of a deadly police shooting that may be triggering for viewers.
At the point in Soave’s discussion with Olurin when he gave his opinion, Olurin had spent more than 13 minutes listing police killings and giving examples of how authorities avoided being held accountable and misrepresented the facts repeatedly. Yet and still, Soave’s default inclination was to believe police.
His response would be unimaginable if the work of journalists hadn’t already made clear that Soave is hardly the exception to the believed rule of police irreproachability.
Olurin explained the trend.
“First of all, let me just say this [...] because too often media reports on what are police stories as though it is the ultimate truth,” she said.
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Olurin listed police response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, as an example.
It also surfaced as an example on a panel of leading journalists of color who attended a joint conference for professional associations for Black and Hispanic journalists.
Eric Deggans, author and NPR TV critic, said on the panel that Uvalde felt like the first time during a mass shooting when the information was wrong because public officials were trying to make themselves look good. Deggans also departed from an emphasis on the unusual aspect of official responses to the mass shooting to highlight a more consistent trend:
“I’ve always said we trust law enforcement too much.”
When Olurin made the same point, she also gave the example of Ronald Greene, who died in police custody in May 2019 after a Louisiana state police trooper dragged him “on his stomach by the leg shackles” after a high-speed chase.
Police initially reported Greene’s death as an “auto accident,” Olurin said.
RELATED STORY: 'He gonna be sore': Louisiana troopers brag about 'whoopin' inflicted on Black man for running
“We see too many, too many discrepancies for us to consistently lean on what the police say is the truth,” Olurin said.
Soave agreed with that much.
“What we know is this boy—we’ve seen this on video—we know that he was shot at 100 times,” Olurin said. “Sixty bullets hit him. He died. They riddled him with bullets, and then they handcuffed his dead body.
“He was unarmed at the time of that. His gun was in the car. Police say—which has not yet been substantiated or corroborated—they say they believe that one bullet might’ve come from the window. They say that.”
Soave chimed in to say, “Who knows if that’s true.”
“Exactly,” Olurin agreed, “but what I do know is that they shot this boy 60 times for a traffic infraction. I know that.”
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Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Police Chief Steve Mylett released a joint statement two days after the shooting:
Horrigan asked for the pubic's patience when the city released body camera footage of the shooting on July 3, and a resolution declaring July 13 a citywide day of mourning for Walker followed.
What has yet to materialize are charges against the eight officers who shot Walker. They were put on paid administrative leave, police said.
The agency investigating the shooting, the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), said in an email to Daily Kos on Monday that its investigation “remains open and ongoing.”
“Once completed, BCI’s investigation will be referred to the prosecutor in the case,” the agency said. “As a fact finding agency, BCI does not determine whether or not a use of force was justified, nor does it make recommendations regarding charges and/or the appropriateness of the use of the force. Those decisions rest with the prosecuting attorney and/or grand jury.”
RELATED STORY: Advice from top Black and Hispanic journalists: 'We trust law enforcement too much'
“I guess I just don’t have a lot of sympathy in this particular case,” journalist Robby Soave said. Appearing shocked, Olurin interrupted Soave to restate some of the details of the case. “You don’t have a lot of sympathy in this case where he was shot 60 times?” she asked.
Soave responded: “After leading police on a high-speed chase and returning fire?”
It’s the kind of perception activists too frequently have to contend with in advocating for justice for Black and brown people killed at the hands of police. Those in Akron are still fighting, planning a march Monday afternoon for justice in Walker’s case. He was killed on June 27.
RELATED STORY: 60 bullets, then cuffed him. Akron law & order
Warning: Videos in this story contain footage of a deadly police shooting that may be triggering for viewers.
At the point in Soave’s discussion with Olurin when he gave his opinion, Olurin had spent more than 13 minutes listing police killings and giving examples of how authorities avoided being held accountable and misrepresented the facts repeatedly. Yet and still, Soave’s default inclination was to believe police.
His response would be unimaginable if the work of journalists hadn’t already made clear that Soave is hardly the exception to the believed rule of police irreproachability.
Olurin explained the trend.
“First of all, let me just say this [...] because too often media reports on what are police stories as though it is the ultimate truth,” she said.
Campaign Action
Olurin listed police response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, as an example.
It also surfaced as an example on a panel of leading journalists of color who attended a joint conference for professional associations for Black and Hispanic journalists.
Eric Deggans, author and NPR TV critic, said on the panel that Uvalde felt like the first time during a mass shooting when the information was wrong because public officials were trying to make themselves look good. Deggans also departed from an emphasis on the unusual aspect of official responses to the mass shooting to highlight a more consistent trend:
“I’ve always said we trust law enforcement too much.”
When Olurin made the same point, she also gave the example of Ronald Greene, who died in police custody in May 2019 after a Louisiana state police trooper dragged him “on his stomach by the leg shackles” after a high-speed chase.
Police initially reported Greene’s death as an “auto accident,” Olurin said.
RELATED STORY: 'He gonna be sore': Louisiana troopers brag about 'whoopin' inflicted on Black man for running
“We see too many, too many discrepancies for us to consistently lean on what the police say is the truth,” Olurin said.
Soave agreed with that much.
“What we know is this boy—we’ve seen this on video—we know that he was shot at 100 times,” Olurin said. “Sixty bullets hit him. He died. They riddled him with bullets, and then they handcuffed his dead body.
“He was unarmed at the time of that. His gun was in the car. Police say—which has not yet been substantiated or corroborated—they say they believe that one bullet might’ve come from the window. They say that.”
Soave chimed in to say, “Who knows if that’s true.”
“Exactly,” Olurin agreed, “but what I do know is that they shot this boy 60 times for a traffic infraction. I know that.”
YouTube Video
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Police Chief Steve Mylett released a joint statement two days after the shooting:
Horrigan asked for the pubic's patience when the city released body camera footage of the shooting on July 3, and a resolution declaring July 13 a citywide day of mourning for Walker followed.
What has yet to materialize are charges against the eight officers who shot Walker. They were put on paid administrative leave, police said.
The agency investigating the shooting, the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), said in an email to Daily Kos on Monday that its investigation “remains open and ongoing.”
“Once completed, BCI’s investigation will be referred to the prosecutor in the case,” the agency said. “As a fact finding agency, BCI does not determine whether or not a use of force was justified, nor does it make recommendations regarding charges and/or the appropriateness of the use of the force. Those decisions rest with the prosecuting attorney and/or grand jury.”
RELATED STORY: Advice from top Black and Hispanic journalists: 'We trust law enforcement too much'