Did The Law Created After His Killing Prevent Deaths Like His?

On the night of July 9th, 1981, 22-year-old Ernest Lacy was helping paint an apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

But when he left for a convenience store to take a snack break, he never made it back.

Three police officers searching for a rape suspect suddenly approached him in the street. Lacy, who had schizophrenia and a particular fear of the police, tried to escape. But the cops wrestled him to the ground, handcuffed him, and kneeled on his back, yanking his arms into the air. 

This motion caused Lacy to seize. They threw him into a van.

Moments later, the same cops picked up another Black man. He noticed Lacy motionless in the van and voiced his concern. The cops  told him Lacy was hit by a car - and when the man questioned their lie, they handcuffed him, too. 

Paramedics later pronounced Lacy dead.

Shortly after his death, the Lacy Law was established. It required officers to seek medical aid for people injured in their custody. But 30 years later, Derek Williams died much like Lacy, and Milwaukee officers faced ZERO consequences. 

In 2020, Lacy’s family took the streets again after George Floyd’s murder.

When the system itself encourages brutality, it can’t be the same system that brings us justice. But just Lacy’s family reminds us, our fight for justice will never die.