Yet again, a Black American has been killed by police.
And, yet again, that police officer has been acquitted of murder.
After the not-guilty verdict, Yvette Smith’s mother collapsed and wept outside the courthouse, saying, “How can they not see? How can they not see? My baby.”
Yvette’s son, Anthony Bell, said that the verdict had left his family “devastated,” adding, “The proof is in the pudding, police will never get in trouble. They don’t give a damn about us, as in Black people.”
According to The Huffington Post, over the last decade, police say they’ve killed about 1,000 civilians per year (the number is certainly much higher), yet, on average, fewer than five officers each year have murder or manslaughter charges brought against them, let alone convictions.
This is why we need Black Lives Matter, because right now, in the United States of America — they don’t.