Justice

Here's How Many People Have Been Killed by Cops Since Kaepernick Spoke out About Police Reform

September 19th 2016

After footage surfaced online of yet another unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher, being fatally shot by authorities, people have started sharing the hashtag #TerenceCrutcher to express frustrations about the state of policing in the United States.

In talking about Crutcher's fate, one user posted that a devastating number of people have been killed by police in the three weeks since football player Colin Kaepernick spoke out about police brutality and protested the national anthem:

The numbers are even higher than this tweet indicates, according to The Counted, which is The Guardian's tracker for police killings in the United States.

Since Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem at a preseason game on August 26, 71 people have been killed by police, The Counted found.

Crutcher was the 67th and final individual on this list to be identified by name. According to The Counted, three other unknown people died from police gunshot wounds on September 17, the day Crutcher died. Another unknown individual died the following day:

The CountedThe Counted - theguardian.com

So far this year, 782 people have been killed by police, 193 of them were black.

On August 26, Kaepernick alluded to police violence impacting the black community in an interview with the National Football League (NFL) Media:

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Though Kaepernick received praise from a lot of people who share his views, he was also attacked online with racial slurs or being called "unpatriotic":

The killing of Terence Crutcher.

According to multiple reports, Crutcher was shot by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma outside of his vehicle several days ago. BBC News reports that authorities are currently investigating his death and that relatives claim his hands were in the air at the time he was shot.

Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said "there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle" and that "justice" would be served in this incident, according to BBC News. The Tulsa Police Department has since released dash cam footage of the shooting.

WARNING: The clip below is extremely graphic:

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