Stop Killing Us Police Accountability Gone Wrong
for many of us
legacy begins with our family
for me more specifically
legacy begins and ends with my children
being able to pass down wisdom
and knowledge and to encourage them to
plant seeds in this world
has been priceless
june 6 2016
was a beautiful day children were out
playing
and laughing riding their bikes up and
down the sidewalk
chasing each other across their front
yards while their parents sat
conversing with one another
it was peaceful two young men
were walking across the street when
suddenly an
suv came down the street at a high rate
of speed
witnesses say with guns drawn in the
window
gunshots rang out
and at the end one of those young men
lied on the ground gasping for
air and taking his last breath
that young man was my son
and his name is henry green
v affectionately known
as bubby i will never forget the call
from my sister crying and screaming
they killed bubby my heart
sunk stopped
all at the same time i’m confused
wondering who would want to hurt my son
i would soon learn that that white
suv with tinted windows and florida tags
belong to two plainclothes police
officers
from columbus police department whom
witnesses say
did not immediately identify themselves
my first encounter with columbus police
after my son’s death
was sitting at a table across from a
detective
who early in our conversation said to me
and my son’s father i see your son was
not a felon
i sat back baffled for a moment
and then i leaned in and said to him
i don’t care if my son had a rap sheet
that went around this city 39 times
i am talking about on that day in that
moment
what was my son doing that your officers
encountered him
in the first place and to that he
provided the typical response
the investigation is ongoing
it was at that moment i realized that i
was in
for the fight of my life there would be
no time
to grieve because something had to be
done
but unbeknownst to me i would quickly
learn
just how many protective barriers there
are for police officers
so i called the attorney general’s
office the young man who answered
was respectful and patient
as he listened to me explain my
situation and my request
for the attorney general’s office to
come in and do
an independent investigation
and he quietly responded ma’am i’m sorry
but ohio is a home rule state
home rule means that whoever has
jurisdiction
unless they invite another agency in to
assist
or take over an investigation no one
else
can come in so
i said to him they kill my son
they have all of the evidence
they create the narrative and there’s
nothing
that i can do he again quietly
responded ma’am i’m sorry and to that
i said i’m confused
a couple of days later i would meet my
attorney for the first time
and he would explain to my family
these cases are hard to win
because of one major barrier
qualified immunity see qualified
immunity
takes away our right as citizens to sue
public officials for violating our civil
rights
the interesting thing is qualified
immunity did not start out that way
the civil rights act of 1871
also known as the ku klux klan act
gave americans the right to sue public
officials
see at that time black men had just
become
eligible to vote and to run for office
and the ku klux klan was terrorizing
communities
hence the reason for the civil rights
act
in the first place
but almost a hundred years later
the u.s supreme court would make a
decision
during the civil rights movement as we
know it
that would change the trajectory of
qualified immunity
to what we see and have today
which has caused a lack of
accountability
and then on a local level
there has been the fraternal order of
police
the fop the police officers union
who fights tirelessly
to keep these police officers on the
force
for example one of the officers who
killed my son
not even a month after being cleared by
the grand jury
for killing my son was caught on camera
stomping the head of a black
handcuffed man he lost his job
but the fop fought to get his job back
and through arbitration he did
he was reinstated he was paid back pay
and he got his seniority back
so what can we do as a community
to push for the changes that are
necessary from for police departments
across this country
i would say that we have one of the most
powerful weapons
collectively and that is our vote
we have the power to expect
and demand from our leadership
the changes that are necessary
the mayor hires and fires police chiefs
the police chief sets the culture and
the climate
in the police department
city council negotiates the contract
with the fop and our state and federal
legislators
have the power and the ability to
introduce legislation
that would force police departments
across this country
to change their policies
so what am i asking you to do there are
a couple of things that i have been
pushing for
and i would hope that you would get
involved and call your state legislators
and your federal legislators
to do the same
one ask them are they willing to support
or
introduce legislation that would mandate
police officers be drug tested
after shootings or
after excessive force incidents that
cause
serious bodily harm
also ask them are they willing to
introduce legislation that will
strip officers of their certification
when they have multiple excessive force
incidents
so i say again there are many things
that need to be changed when it comes
to police departments across this
country
but there is a responsibility and a part
that we can take
so while we go out and vote i encourage
you to know
why you’re voting who you’re voting for
and demand the accountability that is
necessary for all communities
to be safe across this country
when you do this you’re not only
standing with me
and my son you are standing with all of
the families
before me and unfortunately the families
after me who have had a family member
killed by a police officer
so i again say use your power
use your voice vote and require the
changes
for our communities to be safe
thank you and god bless