On February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by four NYPD officers.
I remember being horrified when I heard the news and as details kept coming out, including when the officers were found not guilty of murdering him.
They thought he was a rape suspect. They fired 41 shots, and hit him 19 times. He was 23 years old. He had a bullet hole in the bottom of his foot, lending credence to a witness who said "many of the shots were fired after he had already fallen to the ground."
Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about the Diallo case, called American Skin (41 shots)*. The Boss writes songs that challenge us, that make us think, and sometimes, that get badly misinterpreted - Born in the USA, anyone?
American Skin (41 Shots) is another one.
Is it a gun, is it a knife
Is it a wallet, this is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin.
It's not anti-police, which is how many people interpreted it, and hoped it was, I'm sure. Springsteen said
Though the song was critical, it was not 'anti-police' as some thought. The first voice you hear after the intro is from the policeman's point of view. I worked hard for a balanced voice. I knew a diatribe would do no good. I just wanted to help people see the other guy's point of view.
Whether he was successful is in the eye of the beholder.
What's not in the eye of the beholder, of course, is what happened to Diallo, an innocent man; what happened to the people in his life - his family, and others; what happened to people's trust and faith in the people who are supposed to protect and serve them; and how people learned to fear the police, some as much or more as they feared the bad guys.
Is it a gun, is it a knife
Is it a wallet, this is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin.
I heard about this latest police shooting of a young black man, and I was in disbelief. I couldn't possibly have heard it correctly: 80 shots? 90 shots? 60 bullets hit him? 100 holes in his body? How could that possibly be true?
I wept.
Walker was pursued by the police for a traffic violation. He fled by car, then jumped out of the car and started to run away, for reasons we will never know. Because he can't tell us.
According to early reports, he was hit by 60 bullets, leaving 100 wounds on his body. The autopsy report has been released, and while the number of shots hitting him changed, the details of the carnage are, without a doubt, horrific.
There were 46 entrance wounds on his 25-year-old body:
- 17 on his pelvis and upper legs, injuring major arteries to his leg and bladder; his pelvis and both femurs were broken.
- 15 on his torso, injuring his heart, lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, and multiple ribs.
- 8 on his arms and right hand.
- 5 on his knees, his leg, and his foot
- 1 on his face, breaking his jaw.
Adding insult to those injuries? He was handcuffed after he was murdered.
Is it a gun, is it a knife
Is it a wallet, this is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin.
It couldn't be true, but it was. It is.
This happened. Again.
23 years later, it happened again.
We all should be weeping. We all should be weeping, especially because we know the chances of this happening to any young white males in our lives is almost nil.
We all should be weeping, because the bastard accused of murdering seven people at a July 4th parade was not murdered by police, but was unharmed when he was arrested while driving to another city to perhaps murder more. He was able to have his disgusting face memorialized in a mug shot.
Jayland Walker's face was memorialized at his funeral and in the hearts of those who knew and loved him, and by complete strangers who were, are, and ever will be appalled at his shocking and unnecessary death.
Is it a gun, is it a knife
Is it a wallet, this is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin.
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