On September 18, a 21 year old college student was seen by police outside of a dormitory. Scout Schultz, the student, was reported by an anonymous source to be carrying a knife and a gun. Schultz refused police commands, and was shot dead by these police after advancing on them. The knife and gun that was reported to the police turned out to be a closed power tool, according to the family's lawyer. Schultz identified as intersex, and preferred the pronouns "they". Schultz was also president of the pride alliance at Georgia State University. The victim's family is suing the police for their act of violence.
This is another case of police brutality against a minority. Schultz, an LGBT advocate who often protested and attended pride events, was killed by police over an anonymous phone call. This problem of race and gender profiling is present throughout the United States and it's police force. Just last July, an unarmed black man was shot by police in Louisiana. He was a father of three and had a wife, but this act of racial profiling by the Louisiana police has left his family at a great loss. Profiling is one of the many ways racism represents itself in modern society.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41302571
I agree that police brutality against minorities is a problem. However, did these police even know this student was a part of the lgbt community? I am not nearly as educated on the subject as you are, but I don't know how the police would know that prior to the act of violence.
ReplyDeleteMargot Tortolani
ReplyDeleteThe fact that situations like this keep happening is truly devastating. It's police protocol to look into whether or not the "suspect" is indeed carrying a weapon. In many situations the police are so quick to act based on stereotypes or what they perceive the situation to be. It's a high risk job, and I can't imagine the circumstances but I feel sometimes people are too quick to judge. I was also wondering though, how the police knew Schultz was part of the lgbt community. Regardless, The police should've taken the situation more gently and assessed it better, rather than just relying on an anonymous phone call. How could they possibly know if that call is from a credible source?
Racial and sexual discrimination, as you said, is awful. However, one must realize it is not easy to identify someone's sexual orientation based on appearance. While this act disheartens me, I can't say for sure weather the officer's actions were or were not justified. Sure he should have taken precautions, but shooting someone based on word of mouth is not the direction we need to go in.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of racism is centered in this story, but the fact that police shot dead a college youth just because they approached the police with a power tool. Racism and sexism is a problem across modern society that will take the work of an entire society to change, police brutality is an abuse of power that we can correct by working on a single profession; even without the implication of a hate crime, that police were so quick to choose gunfire is extremely disheartening
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible that these sorts of senseless acts of violence are still happening today, especially when it's racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, sexism, etc. I'm not sure if there's a way to tell that this act was specifically done because of how they identified, but regardless it's an awful thing that happened and while a police officer has to be prepared, it's sad to think they chose to shoot and kill so quickly instead of really examine the situation.
ReplyDeleteWhen people are even for the smallest part "different" they want to make them fit in to "society's standards". This is basically bullying and people are allowing it!
ReplyDeletemaria gonzalez
ReplyDeleteIts horrible that minorities aren't treated equally. what happened to 'The land of the Free' ?
I agree that the police should have been more careful and professional that night however I think Schultz was partly to blame. The police had no way of knowing that Schultz was a member of the LGBT community therefore the shooting did not take place based on minority. While Schultz approached the police in a scary manor, the police could have handled the situation a lot differently that would not have resulted in the loss of life.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this situation reflects undue violence enforced by police upon minorities or does it simply reflect police misonduct due to the possibility of the police not knowing this person even identified as intersexual? Due to the fact that you cant always identify someones sexuaul orientation or gender identity based on appearance.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the issue here is not police brutality, as the police acted on the assumption that the person was armed, and responded accordingly, rather the problem is how society treats LGBT people. The article lists that an anonymous source informed police he was armed, when people think negatively of another social group, they react one of 2 ways, fear or anger. The reporting of this person could be attributed to both emotions, either fear and the person drawing a ridiculous conclusion, or anger and just flat out framing a person who did nothing wrong.
ReplyDelete-David Bagley
Was there any evidence that the suspect had a weapon when approached? Was the suspect armed? I'm still having difficulties understanding why the first instinct was to shoot.
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst. Police brutality is a well known problem and yet, no one is fixing it.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ!!!!! Do police have anything better to do?!
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the lgbt community, this obviously hits very close to home for me, and it's terrible to see horrible things like this happen again and again. I have seen reports of this particular incident in the news, and it has been mentioned that Schultz was mentally unstable and required psychological help. This is another case of not regulating the sales of weapons in regards to the mental stability of the customer. Selling firearms to severely unstable people has caused numerous shootings and unfortunately, it is going to be very difficult to solve this problem because of patient confidentiality. However, hopefully lawmakers will realize they absolutely have to do something before more innocent people are killed.
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips and information..i really appreciate it.. Moss & Colella Police Brutality Legal Help
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