Source: San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Getty
Nothing surprises us regarding police misconduct and disrespect but this is another level of devil.
Back in 2107, a then-19-year-old Damarius Butts was gunned down by Seattle police officers as an accused burglary suspect. Apparently, the police department thought it was the funniest thing ever and decided to create a physical representation of the good ol’ time they had that day.
According to KIRO 7, recently released body camera footage from 2021 shows that officers have a tombstone with the teen’s name on it to mock his death. In addition to the tombstone, there was reportedly a Trump 2020 poster and a Black Lives Matter poster with a red hat on it, presumably a MAGA hat.
The video was released publicly by a lawyer who was working on a case to overturn the graffiti laws in the city. Butts’ family was shown the video for the very first time, and they are heartbroken by the idea that police are celebrating the death of their loved one. KIRO 7 reported the following:
We watched as his mother, grandmother, and uncle viewed the entire video for the first time.
“No, I’ve never seen that video,” Stephanie Butts said, with pain in her voice. “Like, you still gotta have a heart. You do. You gotta have a heart regardless. [I] just don’t know what to say about that.”
Seattle Community Police Commission has charged Police Chief Adrian Diaz with explaining, in public, how something like this could have happened and the city’s mayor Bruce Harrell says he supports an investigation to get answers.
We gon’ see.
