John Crawford III Denied Justice

I have to admit to feeling a bit sick. I just saw two things in very close proximity. The first was a headline announcing that Beavercreek, Ohio, police were cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting death of John Crawford III. The second was the surveillance video of that shooting, which occurred in a Walmart.

Crawford had picked up an unloaded BB gun off a shelf and was swinging it gently, point down, while standing in an aisle talking on the phone. The autopsy report found that Crawford was shot in the back of the left arm and in the left side. From what we can see in the video, it does not appear that police ordered Crawford to put the gun down or gave him time to do it. They just . . . shot him. He didn’t raise the gun or point it at anyone—he was just standing there. And yet the police involved have been cleared of all wrongdoing.

The police arrived on the scene because a Walmart customer, Ronald Ritchie, called 911 and reported that a black man was walking around the store carrying a gun and pointing it at people. Ritchie later admitted that Crawford had not in fact pointed the gun at anyone, but reaffirmed his decision, saying “even still, it’s a gun in Walmart, in a public place, inducing panic.” But Ohio is an open carry state, so a gun in a public place is not in fact illegal. Further, none of the many people who passed Crawford in the surveillance video appeared panicked. (It’s worth noting that a 37-year-old woman died in the store that day of a heart attack in the panic that followed Crawford’s shooting.)

I was struck by a comment I read while going over the details of this case. It was a statement made by a black mother. She said she doesn’t allow her children to have toy guns or water guns because of the risk that someone—vigilante or police—will think it real and shoot one of her children. This is not something I’ve ever had to think about. Last summer I bought my children some water guns for a party we had, and they had a blast playing in the yard with them. I didn’t have to worry for a moment that someone would think one real, or see my white children as a threat. That’s privilege for you.

The Justice Department will be reviewing Crawford’s shooting.