While mourners seek justice for the killing of unarmed Black teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, Mo., an unarmed Black man was killed by police in Los Angeles Monday evening. Ezell Ford was allegedly shot several times in the back by LAPD officers, according to an eyewitness.
Ford, 25, and the unindentified eyewitness were in the Florence neighborhood when the LAPD stopped Ford on what they called an “investigative stop” that night. It isn’t clear from reports if the Ford and the man who named himself a cousin were driving or walking near the intersection of West 65th Street and South Broadway.
KTLA has more:
“My heart is so heavy,” Tritobia Ford said in an interview Tuesday evening. “My son was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did.”
Her son was lying on the ground and complying with the officers’ commands when he was shot three times, Tritobia Ford said.
…
A man who did not give his name and identified himself only as a cousin of the victim described what he witnessed, saying he had been around the corner when the altercation first occurred.
“They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that — that this child has mental problems,” the man said.
“The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out.”
LAPD officials claim that Ford struggled with the unnamed officer who killed Ford, and are not saying if his service weapon was the item they fought over. Confusion also occured when family members said Ford was 24, with others stating he was actually 25 years of age.
Ford’s mother also claimed she was shoved to the ground by the cops, and was denied any information regarding the whereabouts of her son.
Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson has demanded a meeting with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck along with community leaders. The LAPD is said to be investigating the matter.
[Gawker]
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Photo: KTLA
