Denver Cops Kill Another Unarmed Black Man, This Time at the Zoo

It seems we can’t go a week in Denver without the police killing an unarmed minority. On July 18, Alonzo Ashley, 29, was killed in front of his girlfriend at the Denver zoo, by police and zoo security.

According to reports in The Denver Post, Ashley stopped at a drinking fountain to dunk his head in the water, seeking relief from the 90 degree heat. Witnesses said Ashley appeared delirious from the sweltering afternoon temperature.

When Ashley refused to stop cooling himself, the police and zoo security attacked. A struggle ensued, Ashley was forced to the ground and Tased, he began to convulse and stopped breathing. Ashley died in front of his girlfriend before paramedics arrived at the scene.

Police say Ashley punched and bit security personnel when they tried to subdue him – they said he had “extraordinary strength.” The police didn’t refute that Ashley was unarmed or that the reason for the confrontation was splashing water on his face on a hot day.

Community leaders and activists staged a protest outside of the zoo on Friday. One demonstrator held a sign that read “Police Brutality is killing Us.” The Rev. Patrick Demmer of the Denver Ministerial Alliance said, “Law Enforcement is sending a clear and concise message to our community, as well as the Hispanic community, ‘We do not value your life.’”

Meanwhile, police began their media counter offensive allowing TV news outlets to film police deadly force training. The training included a video scenario projected on the wall where the officer trainee, gun drawn, had to respond. The purpose of allowing the media to report on the training was to show that police only have seconds to decide to use deadly force, and that under stress it is reasonable that wrong choices could be made.

What the video scenario did not show was a scene of an unarmed black man splashing water on his face, or an unarmed black man trying to get his shoes, or an unarmed Hispanic man talking on his cell phone - police use of life threatening violence in these scenarios must be covered in a different training video.

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