"This doesn't make any sense for them to kill my son like this," said mother of 18-year-old Antonio French.(Screenshot via Mobil gas surveillance footage)
Dec 24, 2014
On the Eve of the Christmas holiday, national outrage over the police killing of people of color once again came to a head on Wednesday after news spread that a St. Louis area police officer shot a black teen late Tuesday evening.
According to reports, 18-year-old Antonio Martin was shot just after 11 PM in a Mobil gas station parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, Missouri. The St. Louis County Police Department alleges that the unnamed Berkeley officer, who is reportedly white, fired three shots after Martin drew a handgun.
Surveillance footage released of the incident has drawn much scrutiny. However, both a body camera and police car dashboard camera were reportedly not on to capture the exchange.
Early Tuesday, St. Louis police chief Jon Belmar held a press conference during which he confirmed that no shots were fired by Martin. Belmar said that in this case it was "unreasonable" to expect that the officer taser Martin, but conceded: "bad choices were made."
Martin's mother, Toni Martin-Green, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "This doesn't make any sense for them to kill my son like this." Martin-Green said initial video provided by police didn't offer enough information to answer her questions.
After the fatal shooting, roughly 300 protesters gathered at the scene and faced off with a line of police dressed in riot gear, who fired pepper spray.
The shooting occurred just five miles from the community of Ferguson, where unarmed teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot on August 9 by officer Darren Wilson, spurring months of protests and national outrage over the impunity of law enforcement and the frequent targeting of people of color.
On Wednesday, as activists prepared for continued demonstrations against racial injustice, now focused on shutting down centers of holiday consumerism, news of Martin's killing spread quickly online with expressions of outrage shared under the hashtag #AntonioMartin.
The Guardian has ongoing updates as more details of the incident are disclosed and St. Louis Public Radio has a live blog of reactions.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
On the Eve of the Christmas holiday, national outrage over the police killing of people of color once again came to a head on Wednesday after news spread that a St. Louis area police officer shot a black teen late Tuesday evening.
According to reports, 18-year-old Antonio Martin was shot just after 11 PM in a Mobil gas station parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, Missouri. The St. Louis County Police Department alleges that the unnamed Berkeley officer, who is reportedly white, fired three shots after Martin drew a handgun.
Surveillance footage released of the incident has drawn much scrutiny. However, both a body camera and police car dashboard camera were reportedly not on to capture the exchange.
Early Tuesday, St. Louis police chief Jon Belmar held a press conference during which he confirmed that no shots were fired by Martin. Belmar said that in this case it was "unreasonable" to expect that the officer taser Martin, but conceded: "bad choices were made."
Martin's mother, Toni Martin-Green, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "This doesn't make any sense for them to kill my son like this." Martin-Green said initial video provided by police didn't offer enough information to answer her questions.
After the fatal shooting, roughly 300 protesters gathered at the scene and faced off with a line of police dressed in riot gear, who fired pepper spray.
The shooting occurred just five miles from the community of Ferguson, where unarmed teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot on August 9 by officer Darren Wilson, spurring months of protests and national outrage over the impunity of law enforcement and the frequent targeting of people of color.
On Wednesday, as activists prepared for continued demonstrations against racial injustice, now focused on shutting down centers of holiday consumerism, news of Martin's killing spread quickly online with expressions of outrage shared under the hashtag #AntonioMartin.
The Guardian has ongoing updates as more details of the incident are disclosed and St. Louis Public Radio has a live blog of reactions.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
On the Eve of the Christmas holiday, national outrage over the police killing of people of color once again came to a head on Wednesday after news spread that a St. Louis area police officer shot a black teen late Tuesday evening.
According to reports, 18-year-old Antonio Martin was shot just after 11 PM in a Mobil gas station parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, Missouri. The St. Louis County Police Department alleges that the unnamed Berkeley officer, who is reportedly white, fired three shots after Martin drew a handgun.
Surveillance footage released of the incident has drawn much scrutiny. However, both a body camera and police car dashboard camera were reportedly not on to capture the exchange.
Early Tuesday, St. Louis police chief Jon Belmar held a press conference during which he confirmed that no shots were fired by Martin. Belmar said that in this case it was "unreasonable" to expect that the officer taser Martin, but conceded: "bad choices were made."
Martin's mother, Toni Martin-Green, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "This doesn't make any sense for them to kill my son like this." Martin-Green said initial video provided by police didn't offer enough information to answer her questions.
After the fatal shooting, roughly 300 protesters gathered at the scene and faced off with a line of police dressed in riot gear, who fired pepper spray.
The shooting occurred just five miles from the community of Ferguson, where unarmed teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot on August 9 by officer Darren Wilson, spurring months of protests and national outrage over the impunity of law enforcement and the frequent targeting of people of color.
On Wednesday, as activists prepared for continued demonstrations against racial injustice, now focused on shutting down centers of holiday consumerism, news of Martin's killing spread quickly online with expressions of outrage shared under the hashtag #AntonioMartin.
The Guardian has ongoing updates as more details of the incident are disclosed and St. Louis Public Radio has a live blog of reactions.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.