North Miami, FL—Charles Kinsey was shot in the leg by North Miami police while lying on the ground with his hands up on July 18, 2016.
Charles, a 47-year-old behavioral therapist, was attempting to retrieve an autistic man from the middle of the street.
The autistic man, who we only know as “Arnaldo,” had wandered into the middle of the street, sat down with a toy truck, and began playing with it. Charles, his caretaker, began trying to convince Arnaldo to move from the middle of the street.
At some point, two cops approached the two men from a distance. Both cops had their guns drawn; one of the cops held a long range rifle.
A witness’ video shows Charles and Arnaldo both in the middle of the street, Charles lying on his back with his hands up and Arnaldo sitting playing with his truck.
The conversation in the video that can be heard is as follows:
“Lay down on your stomach,” Charles tells the Arnaldo, the autistic man.
“Shut up,” Arnaldo shouts. “Shut up, you idiot.”
Charles then turns his attention to the cops who are both aiming guns at him.
“Can I get up now?” he asks. “Can I get up?”
Charles tries to explain to the cops who are cowering behind their cars what is going on.
“All he has is a toy truck in his hand. A toy truck,” Charles says. “I am a behavioral therapist at a group home.
“That’s all it is,” he says, referring to the toy truck. “That’s all it is. There is no need for guns.”
“Let me see your hands,” an officer can be heard shouting, completely ignoring what Charles had just said. “Get on the ground. Get on the ground.”
Arnaldo then begins to make noises, apparently playing with his toy.
“Arnaldo, please be still,” Charles tells him. “Sit down, Arnaldo. Lay on your stomach.”
The video then cuts out. Shortly after the video ends, one of the cops shoots Charles in the leg.
The name of the cop who shot Charles is Jonathan Aledda. He shot a total of three shots, one of the bullets hitting Charles.
“My life flashed in front of me,” Charles said. A witness to the shooting said, “He was like ‘Please don’t shoot me.’”
Charles went on to explain, “They flipped me over, and I’m face-down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come. I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding––I mean bleeding, and I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Cop says he doesn’t know why he shot Charles
The cops handcuffed Charles who was bleeding profusely from the leg which was shot. He asked Aledda, “Why did you shoot me?”
Aledda’s response: “I don’t know.”
The reason that Aledda could respond so glibly that he doesn’t know why he shot Charles is that he doesn’t have to know. Africans can be shot and murdered by the State every day, and the State doesn’t even have to make up a reason to do so.
It is telling that the cop could just respond, “I don’t know”. When Africans don’t have power, the State doesn’t feel the need to explain themselves. After all, the State has been murdering us with impunity for over 600 years.
This is why after Charles was shot, he was not even given medical treatment until 20 minutes later. He was left bleeding, lying on the ground, handcuffed, while cops stood around like business as normal.
John Rivera, head of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association (another arm of the State), finally gave a ridiculous reason for why Aledda shot Charles. The pigs now say that Aledda thought Charles was at risk from the autistic man in the street, Arnaldo. The pigs say that Aledda tried to shoot Arnaldo but mistakenly shot Charles.
Of course this silly reasoning makes no sense at all. If the pigs had tried to shoot Arnaldo but instead shot Charles, why did they then handcuff Charles and leave him bleeding in the street for 20 minutes?
The pigs and the State know their reason for shooting Charles makes no sense. They aren’t even trying to make up a “real” explanation to why they shot Charles.
They know that they don’t have to because Africans have no power.
Black Community Control of Police!
African people need power now! We need Black Community Control of Police!
If we Africans had black community control of the police, the cop who shot Charles would not have been able to give the answer of “I don’t know” after shooting an African.
In fact, if we had black community control of the police, that cop would have never been in the black community in the first place.
The African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) is about taking power! We want nothing less than power––no reforms, no bodycams.
If you are serious about having power and you want control over your own African life, then join the APSP!
www.joinapsp.org
Uhuru!
#BlackCommunityControlOfPolice
#FistsUpFightBack!
For more articles, Subscribe to The Burning Spear newspaper!
