If you know the name Harith Augustus, you've probably seen the video that shows him being shot and killed by police. The 30-second clip seems to show the justified shooting of a young black man ostensibly armed and ready to shoot a law enforcement official.
But, according to a recent article in Think Progress, the case isn't so open and shut. And in fact, the police, not Harith Augustus, are likely at fault and should face justice.
Officers confronted Augustus because they believed he had a gun. In the body cam video, you can indeed see that Augustus is armed, but before the attack, he was actually speaking calmly to another officer rummaging through his wallet. The gun was not in his hands rather both hands were on his wallet.
Moments before his death, he appears to be about to show the officer a yellow and white card, which was likely his state-issued Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card. It is at this moment, while he is having a conversation with one officer, that another officer yanks at his hands and pulls him away.
Augustus naturally pulls away, spins into the street — it is here that viewers can see his gun attached at his waist — and shortly after he is dead.
But that 30-second clip is only part of the story. According to the Chicago Police Department (CPD) policy, officers must activate their body-worn camera "at the beginning of an incident and will record the entire incident for all law-enforcement-related activities," including "investigatory stops," "interrogations," "searches, including searches of people," "requests for consent to search," and "high-risk situations."
Since there was more than just one officer involved in the confrontation, that suggests that there are far more videos — likely with audio — that could show exactly what transpired before the officer who escalated the interaction to its deadly final intervened.
CPD is trying to be sly by offering a misleading 30-second clip that seeks to implicate Augustus in his own death and at the same time absolve law enforcement of any guilt. Yet there is much more footage and the people have a right to see how exactly this young man died.
Ask CPD to be honest in its investigation of the death of Mr. Augustus and give the people access to all the footage. Sign the petition and demand transparency in the death of Harith Augustus.
