The African colony in Florida has seen its fair share of colonial violence over the years, and on May 16, 2025 the bloodstained earth of this occupied land grew redder. Tyrone Bartley, a 32-year-old African father living in Pine Hills in Orlando, Florida, was brutally murdered in his own home by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office via the discharge of a high-powered rifle, fired six times at point-blank range by cop Reese Whitlock.
The police had returned to the residence of Tyrone Bartley after an initial encounter on May 3, where they were responding to a domestic violence call in regards to another tenant in the rooming house where Bartley resided. The police stated that they had found various paraphernalia, including drugs, a stolen firearm, and had made two arrests that had nothing to do with Tyrone.
A few weeks later, the police would use this incident to obtain a search warrant. And on May 16, five sheriff deputies exited their armored vehicle and, armed to the teeth with battering rams, body armor, rifles and sidearms, began their assault on Tyrone Bartley’s home. Entering the house, they began to sweep the area and eventually made their way to Tyrone’s door.
Once Tyrone opened, he was shouted at to raise his hands. However, after approximately 2.68 seconds, Whitlock opened fire on Tyrone, shooting at him six times. As Tyrone lay on the ground screaming, the police continued to shout for him to put his hands over his head, as if the six bullets fired into his side at point-blank range were not incapacitating enough.
Conveniently, it is here where the bodycam footage ends. Not only do we not get a solid view of Tyrone, but we are not privy to one of the most crucial scenes that the colonial media attempts to use to justify Tyrone Bartley’s murder.
Now, the police claim that they told Tyrone to raise his hands, that he initially complied, but that one of the deputies saw him “reach behind the door” for a rifle that was allegedly there. And conveniently, we do not get live camera footage of the pigs discovering this rifle, but rather, we are shown a blurry picture in the dark, of a door opened vertically with a black blob they attempt to pawn off as evidence.
It is interesting that the only real evidence that would supposedly exonerate the pigs is a screenshot of the video. However, how the cops were supposedly able to see through the door to know that Tyrone wasn’t simply opening the door with his right hand, but that he was reaching for a rifle, we will never know! Perhaps X-ray vision?
The African community is not falling for this
In the aftermath of the murder, Tyrone Bartley’s family came out and made various statements in order to set the record straight as the pigs and colonial media attempted to cover their tracks with bogus accusations. His sister, Shereen Bartley, pointed out the fact that the pigs only had a warrant for one tenant, and that since each room was being rented out to different individuals, they should have targeted that one room.
“Every bedroom is like a different apartment,” she said. “If they were in here on the 3rd, they already knew that everybody was in their individual rooms. This is not a one-family dwelling.”
The African community, however, is clear that the police regularly function this way. They don’t “protect and serve” the African community. They operate like badge-wearing gangsters skulking around our community using fear, intimidation and murder to exert their control. And they do this with impunity. Why? Because the police are a tool of the State.
This is the State
The State is a tool of oppression. Its purpose is to keep our situation as African people just the way it is—the white ruling class maintains their wealth and their ability to exploit and oppress while African and other colonized people are kept in a state of poverty, despair and unending exploitation.
The State ensures that our situation remains this way, and it will utilize any means to do that. The police killings in our community that we see daily are a prime example of State violence. Tyrone Bartley was not the one that the pigs even say they were looking for, but they took the life of a man who was a beloved member of his community and the community at large in a mere 2.68 seconds.
Why? Because this is how the State functions. The killer cop who gunned him down was placed on paid leave. Why? Because this is how the State functions.
The State will take an African life, then the State will pardon itself for taking an African life. Tyrone Bartley was later taken to the hospital, where he died from his wounds, leaving behind a fatherless daughter and a bereaved community.
The APSP is building on the ground in Orlando
The African People’s Socialist Party and the organization Orlando Against Police Crimes have been working in tandem in order to obtain justice for Tyrone Bartley. The most recent action that took place was on June 14, during the Orange County commissioners meeting, where comrades took to the podium in order to demand that the county commissioners refuse to grant the budget extension that the Orange County sheriff John Mina, will be requesting in July.
We say that no budget extensions should be granted while the Orange County police gun down Africans in cold blood.
We understand that the only solution for African people in Orlando is organization. We refuse to allow any more Tyrone Bartleys to become victims of this vicious system and its ravenous appetite for African lives.
We call on YOU, African people in Orlando, Florida to get organized today. Hear the cry of Tyrone Bartley, and get organized today. Understand that our freedom will only come through our own efforts and get organized today.
The African People’s Socialist Party is on the ground in Orlando, and we are calling on you to accept your responsibility to your brothers, your sisters and your children and get organized today.
Justice for Tyrone Bartley!
Join TODAY at apspuhuru.org
