Officers Matthew Farris, Rafael Rodriguez, Jereh Lubrin
As of the afternoon of Friday, September 4,
American police have killed at least 801 people—a record. What most people don't know, is that not one single person who was killed in police or law enforcement custody is counted in that number. Furthermore, nobody has any true idea of just how many people are killed in police custody. My best and most sincere estimate is that it is at least more than the number of people killed outside of custody. Maybe drastically so.
We now know of at least one more person who was killed in police custody recently.
His name was Michael Tyree.
What I am about to say is harsh, but I say it after a year of studying what happens to men and women behind bars.
To most of America, Michael Tyree was human trash.
While he was white, and that may garner a modicum of sympathy in some corners, he was also poor, homeless, a drug addict, battled a severely debilitating mental illness, and stayed in trouble for petty crimes.
Perhaps two people I've known to matter even less to more people are Charley Keunang, who was most of what Michael Tyree was, but also an African immigrant; and Darren Rainey, who was also most of what Michael Tyree was, but a black man incarcerated in Florida.
In America, some factors make you as close to a throwaway person as any human could ever be. Simply being incarcerated immediately makes most people sub-human to many Americans, who could sincerely care less about what happens to people behind bars.
Earlier this week I told you the story of Jamycheal Mitchell, who sat in jail for four months waiting to be charged for stealing $3.50 in snacks from a 7-Eleven store. Severely mentally ill, he lost over 70 pounds and starved to death—not in some faraway place, but in Virginia.
Knowing the deep inhumanity of his story should help you understand how three officers came to literally beat Michael Tyree to death.
The official news story goes like this...
An inmate at a county jail died of multiple blunt force injuries and three Northern California correctional deputies have been arrested on suspicion of murder in his death at a county jail, sheriff's officials said Thursday.
Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. James Jensen said the deputies — Rafael Rodriguez, Jereh Lubrin and Matthew Farris— remain in custody. They are being held without bail.
That's the text.
I want you to dig deeper and think of the subtext.
What made these three officers think beating Michael Tyree to death would be okay?
What history did they have with other inmates?
Had Tyree filed any complaints against these officers?
What other complaints have been filed in this jail from inmates about abuse?
Why are people with clearly diagnosed mental illnesses being put in jails with guards and inmates who clearly are unfit to be around them?