Antonio Martin (1996?-2014) was a Black teenager shot dead by a White police officer in Berkeley, Missouri on December 23rd 2014 at 11:14:55pm. In suburban St Louis, Berkeley is next to Ferguson, where Michael Brown, another Black 18-year-old, was gunned down by a White police officer last summer.
The shooting: Officer Unknown Name was called to a Mobil on the Go gas station at 6800 North Hanley Road to look into a report of shoplifting. Before entering the shop, he talked to Martin and his friend who were out front. Martin was “known to police”. The police say that Martin pulled a gun on the officer – yet did not shoot. The officer runs backwards, falling, shooting three times, hitting Martin once.
Martin was alive for a half hour, according to witnesses, yet no ambulance arrived. His body laid there for another hour and a half. Then the police put his body into the back of an SUV.
A gun, a black 9mm Hi-Point handgun, was recovered at the scene by police, but some witnesses say it did not appear there till hours after the shooting. The gun’s serial number is filed off so it is impossible to know where it came from.
White-on-Black policing: Berkeley is 82% Black. Most of the police officers who appear in pictures seem to be White.
Protesters: Between 200 and 300 gathered at the gas station. Among them was Martin’s inconsolable mother (pictured above). The police used pepper spray. Some protesters threw rocks and bricks. A fight broke out between the police and protesters. Three times something like fireworks went off (pictured below).
Four protesters were arrested, two officers were injured. The QuikTrip shop across the street was damaged.
The following night, Christmas Eve, Martin’s mother and others held a candlelight vigil. Police in riot gear arrived. There were fewer than 100 protesters but at one point they managed to shut down the nearby Inner Belt Expressway (I-170). Some shops were damaged, none were robbed.
Video:
- Officer Unknown Name had a body camera but did not wear it. His car had a camera too, but he did not turn it on.
- The gas station has a ton of security cameras, yet the three videos made public so far are unclear. In none of them does a gun appear. Two of them are shot from so faraway you cannot even see the officer’s gun. In the other one you can only see part of Martin and the officer. In that one Martin appears to have a mobile phone: a lighted rectangle briefly appears. Mobile phones count as a Phantom Negro Weapon.
The press: The police would not make public the name of the officer, but they did make public Martin’s juvenile police record, something they are not supposed to do. Nothing in it suggests Martin would pull a gun on the police.
The mayor says people should not jump to conclusions before the police have completed their investigation – of themselves.
See also:
- Michael Brown
- Phantom Negro Weapons
- Alan Blueford – also supposedly pointed a gun at police without firing, his body left in the street for four hours.
- Rekia Boyd – mobile phone as deadly weapon
- The police
I always wanted to emigrate to USA,but after these continuous killings of black men,maybe it will be a holiday,if that.
The police are supposed to protect you but with these killings there must be so much tension with black Americans and them that the divide created will be hard to restore because for many,they have lost that faith.
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Maxine:
“the divide created will be hard to restore because for many,they have lost that faith” when has black people, ever had faith in white people to restore in the first place? I’ll tell you…Never!
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This is getting old.
Scratch that, this got old 200 years ago
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“The police say that Martin pulled a gun on Officer Fuck You – yet did not shoot.”
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Natural elimination thru random stupidity
Charles Darwin FTW!
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Thanks for the details. This is the one case I am actually torn on because if he indeed did pull out a gun he can not be a victim here. People are claiming the video shows him pulling a gun which is very hard to tell.
I am not sure what to believe.
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And if they really wanted to recover that serial number there are ways.
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For every problem there is a solution.
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Maybe he bought the gun from someone who had filed off the serial number…
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@Bobby M
That is a possibility, but then why did it take so long for this gun to appear? That is the one thing that keeps bothering me in this case. If he had a gun then it would fall to the ground when shot. Another thing is why place the body in the back of an SUV? Were they taking him to the hospital? That is tampering with possible evidence.
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what happened to the friend?
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Why does it seem ‘we’ are the ones so often in these situations?
Do we have something to do with that fact? Or are we that maliciously targeted.
How could we avoid these circumstances?
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“what happened to the friend?”
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The fact you are asking that question is proof the “friend” was not a friend.
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“The mayor says people should not jump to conclusions before the police have completed their investigation – of themselves.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Oh okay. At least we now know that Just-Us will prevail because everything is going to done – publicly – on the up and up! Yeah, right!
Seriously, as long as the wolves are guarding the hen house, the hens will always meet an untimely end …. at the hand of the wolves.
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George Ryder
some say the videos were cropped before they were released.
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Do the originals show a black female police sergeant?
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The police are looking for Martin’s friend, presumably to question him.
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Well if he is smart he will keep running and stay in hiding.
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“Well if he is smart he will keep running and stay in hiding.”
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You mean like Rachel Jeantel did after she heard Trayvon Martin gunned down over the phone?
(((shakin my head)))
This is why we are the worlds foremost loser race.
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You forgot to mention that Antonio Martin was expelled from school, had three assault charges pending including armed robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, etc.
This is what you people have come to in terms of finding civil rights icons.
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@ IronKnuckle
Whatever happened to innocent till proven guilty? What does that stuff have to do with the shooting? What, only Blacks with no police record have a right to life?
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“Officer F@#$ You (the name he gave to onlookers)”
What’s your source for that?
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SMH @ Yet another young Black male shot by police under what could have most likely not have had to happen in such a circumstance as this one-and anyone who Constantly puts down their “own race” in such disgusting fashion surely is not to believed to be actually “Black” or whatever other ethnicity their claiming to be-no one would really believe such a jack-azz, would they!?
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Tough love Niki; Im blacker than a negro grave site.
If I can look the white man in the eye and tell him the truth, why should I lie to black people?
We’re an elite unit, we deal with truth everyday; if this kinda thing shakes you up, maybe you should go back to Starbucks?
Light some candles, weep and moan, have a pep rally…?
To protect the sheep you gotta kill the wolf, and it takes a wolf to kill the wolf;
understand?
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There’s a report here that a companion of the young man killed by police stated that he, in fact did pull out a gun and point it at the officer.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/chief-probe-shows-man-shot-by-officer-had-gun/ar-BBhmi3u?ocid=ansnewsap11
“…surveillance cameras recorded Martin’s death. Police the next day released grainy video that police said showed Martin raising his gun at the officer.
The witnesses included a man who was with Martin, who also confirmed Martin pointed the gun at the officer, McCall said. The officer fell backward trying to retreat and fired three shots. One hit Martin, who was pronounced dead minutes later.
He said the safety was still on Martin’s gun when he examined it.”
His intent to shoot the police will be forever in doubt, but we can all agree, pointing a weapon, loaded or not, safety on or not, at a police officer, is a bad idea.
Happy New Year everyone.
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Double-Agent, That Is All..
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@ Abagond
“Officer F@#$ You (the name he gave to onlookers)”
What’s your source for that?
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@ Big Momma
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/24/1353897/-Low-hanging-fruit
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@ Abagond
You’ve linked another person’s blog. It doesn’t look like he provided a source for the claim, either. Perhaps I’m not seeing it. What’s the actual source?
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@ Big Momma
Hmm…
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http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-ann-officer-resigns-glendale-lieutenant-fired-after-actions-during/article_4e9f0ee5-a8ab-5cc8-ab1a-5e8be57612ca.html
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Herneith
I honestly see those type fires as pacifying moves. The are firing them for using certain languages and saying certain things, but not for killing. They are the sacrificial lamb to make it appear as if those departments are fair
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@ Herneith
Good find. I knew which officer said it because I’m familiar with the incident. But it happened last August in Ferguson. Antonio Martin was shot a week ago in St Ann. So “Officer F@#$ You” had nothing to do with this incident. I also knew Abagond got it from the Daily Kos because that’s the only other place the claim was made. My point was that the Daily Kos confused two separate incidents and Abagond didn’t bother to confirm it. No one else bothered to check it, either, until I asked. Abagond knew she’d been caught with an unsupported claim but didn’t want to admit it. Anyway, props to you for stepping up.
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@ Big Momma
My mistake. You are right – only Daily Kos says that. I corrected the post.
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To Abagond:
White-on-Black policing: Berkeley is 82% Black. Most of the police officers who appear in pictures seem to be White.
The mayor and the majority of the leadership of Berkeley are black.
According to the mayor of Berkeley,Theodore Hoskins, the majority of the Berkeley police force is also black:
“We are different from the City of Ferguson.” Hoskins says there is a jump to the conclusion that all policemen are guilty. “And we all know 80-95% of our policemen serve our community well. So jumping to conclusion without investigating is not acceptable. And I have some fine officers.”
The majority of officers in Berkeley are African American and so is the city’s staff. “Our police officers are more sensitive and it’s because of the black and white relationship and because they interact with a majority of black policemen. So you get a better understanding which is why I think we’re different from the city of Ferguson,” said Hoskins. “We don’t have major crime in this city. This is unique.”
The mayor says there are 31 officers in Berkeley. Of those officers, 18 of them are African American. According to Hoskins, it does not appear that the police officer initiated this shooting.
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@U.M…Most of Berkeley are White, trust me I’ve lived in the Bay Area and though there are more people “of color” there now (due to constant rent increase in S.F.) it still remains very largely white-I don’t know if this incident was racially motivated but I wouldn’t be surprised either way as Cali has More than its’ fair share of from many types of folk,
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..types of folks..
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To Mz.Nikita:
@U.M…Most of Berkeley are White, trust me I’ve lived in the Bay Area and though there are more people “of color” there now (due to constant rent increase in S.F.) it still remains very largely white-I don’t know if this incident was racially motivated but I wouldn’t be surprised either way as Cali has More than its’ fair share of from many types of folk
Yes Berkeley California is majority white
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley,_California#Demographics
However the town where Antonio Martin was shot, Berkeley, Missouri is predominantly (82%) black:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley,_Missouri#2010_census
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That’s it. I’m definitely not going to USA.
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