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Rodney King
The Los Angeles Police officers beat motorist Rodney King after he lead on a high-speed chase through Lose Angeles County. The police beat King more than 50 times with their batons. King suffered 11 fractures and other injuries. Two of the officers named Sergeant Stacy Koon and Laurence Michael Powell were sentenced to 30 months in prison, due to violating King's civil and constitutional rights. -
Malice Wayne Green
A 35-year-old black motorist who parked outside a suspected drug den. Witnesses were saying that the officers hit Green in the head repeatedly with heavy flashlights. The officers feared that Green was trying to reach for one of their weapons. Green died later that night due to his head injuries. Two officers, Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn were charged with second degree murder. Sergeant Freddie Douglas, a supervisor was charged with involuntary manslaughter and willful neglect of duty. -
Amadou Diallo
A 22-year-old street vendor from West Africa is confronted outside his home in Brooklyn, New York by four New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. They showed up to his home because they were searching for a rapist. When Diallo reaches for his wallet, the police open fire because they feared he was pulling out a gun. They fired 41 times and killed him with 19 shots. Officers Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy were acquitted for state murder charges. -
Oscar Grant
An unarmed 22-year-old black male was detained and shot in the back while he was lying face down on a platform at the Fruitvale San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Oakland. The officers were responding to reports of a fight on a crowded BART train returning from San Francisco. BART officer Johannes Mehserle shot Grant and ended up being guilty in court and served two years in prison. -
Kelly Thomas
A Caucasian homeless man diagnosed with schizophrenia who lived on the streets of Fullerton, California was beaten, clubbed, and stunned with a taser by six Fullerton police officers. The officers responded to a call about a homeless man looking into car windows and pulling on handles of cars. Kelly Thomas died fives days later in the hospital. Officer Manuel Ramos was charged with second degree murder involuntary manslaughter and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli was charged with involuntary manslaughter. -
Dontre Hamilton
A 31-year-old black male with paranoid schizophrenia was fatally shot 14 times by a police officer at a Milwaukee park. The officer approached Hamilton because employees at a nearby Starbucks alleged that Hamilton was disturbing the peace. Officers who arrived to Hamilton's presence at first determined that Hamilton wasn't doing anything illegal. Officer Christopher Manney showed up and after trying to pat Hamilton down, a tussle between them occurred and led Manney to shoot. He was not charged. -
Eric Garner
A 43-year-old black man was killed in New York by Officer Daniel Pantaleo who tackled Garner to the ground while in a chokehold during an arrest for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. Garner, who has asthma was restrained on the ground by several officers. He kept saying over and over "I can't breathe" . This incident was recorded on a cellphone and later on that day Garner died. A grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo. -
John Crawford
A 22-year-old unarmed black man was shot and killed at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio. There did not appear to be a confrontation with the police, but he was holding a toy BB gun. Officers Sean Williams and David Darkow were not charged. -
Tanisha Anderson
A 37-year-old black woman died after Cleveland officers allegedly slammed her head on the pavement while taking her into custody. Anderson's family said Tanisha had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Tanisha's younger sister Jennifer said Tanisha was having one of her "bad days". She was disoriented and kept leaving the house. So Jennifer made the first 911 call. The second set of cops arrived and were rude and brusque according to Tanisha's family. They were Detective Aldridge and Brian Meyers -
Tamir Rice
A 12-year-old black boy was shot and killed by the Cleveland police after officers mistook his toy gun for a real weapon. Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback have not been charged. -
Philando Castile
An unarmed black man was killed by officer Jernimo Yanez during a stop in Falcon Heights. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live-streams the aftermath of the confrontation and said Castile was reaching for his identification when he was shot. Yanez was charged with second degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. -
Terence Crutcher
A 40-year-old unarmed black man was fatally shot by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby after Crutcher's car is found abandoned in the middle of the road. The police chef told reporters that Crutcher was unarmed. Officer Shelby is charged with felony first-degree manslaughter. The criminal complaint against Shelby said her fear resulted in her unreasonable actions which lead her to shooting Crutcher. She is accused of unlawfully and unnecessarily shooting him after he didn't comply with her orders -
Justine Damond
A 40-year-old Australian woman was fatally shot after summoning police to what she said was a possible rape near her home. What happened the night she was killed has remained a mystery. There is no footage of the shooting even though both officers who were there were wearing body cameras. Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Poor who shot Damond has been charged with third-degree murder "perpetrating an eminently dangerous act and evincing depraved mind" and second-degree manslaughter. -
Stephon Clark
An unarmed 22-year-old black man was shot and killed by two officers of the Sacramento Police Department. The officers were looking for a suspect who was breaking windows to people's cars in the neighborhood. They confronted Clark, whom they found in the yard of his grandmother's house. They started shooting at Clark because they thought he had a gun in his hand. After the shooting, the police reported that Clark was only carrying a cell phone. The officers were placed on administrative leave.
