In Vallejo, a Californian city known for police violence against African Americans, a young, 20-year old black man, Willie McCoy, was shot dead in his car by six police officers. Although the family objects to this claim, the police defended their decision by saying that McCoy had supposedly reached for his firearm in his lap, a semi-automatic handgun, and they shot in defense. However, Willie's older brother and cousin have openly spoken out, saying that the police officers had fired too quickly and Willie was shot for no reason.
According to the officers, the situation began when employees at a nearby Taco Bell restaurant saw McCoy sleeping in his car with a gun on his lap. The police were alerted to this issue and immediately began gathering around his vehicle. The department said that they were going to get the gun before waking him up but were unable to do so, so they commanded McCoy to keep his hands visible once he woke up. He did not comply, and because of this, they began shooting and McCoy died almost immediately.
Mr. Harrison, McCoy's cousin stated, "I want no other parents, no other kid's parents, to go through this ever again. They can't just keep killing us in the street like this. My little cousin was asleep in the car." John Burris was recently hired as a civil rights attorney in a case after McCoy's family spoke out about Willie's death. A post-mortem examination is being conducted and an investigation showed that the handgun was stolen from Oregon.
Source: BBC News
~ February 13, 2019