Cops fired 100 shots at Dexter Reed for an alleged seatbelt violation. Whether or not he was buckled up doesn’t matter. All that matters is that this 26-year-old was killed by police violence, and his story is more common than we might think.
A recent study has found that Black drivers in Chicago are more vulnerable to police traffic stops than white drivers, regardless of where they live or where they are headed.
Researchers from Cornell warned in their data that traffic stops could be “replacing stop and frisk as a new tactic for discrimination.” Stop-and-frisk is another controversial police tactic that has resulted in the racial profiling and abuse of Black people.
The reality is that driving while Black in this country is dangerous. Police should not take our travels as a license to kill. No one deserves to drive in fear of the police like we regularly do.
Police use minor violations as a deadly excuse to justify horrific acts against Black people. Systemic violence that can destroy us so freely does not exist to protect us.