When criminal charges were filed last week against former SF police officer Christopher Samayoa for the shooting death of Keita O’Neil on December 1st 2017, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin received many praises for the decision, that is marked for being the first time in SF history that a officer has been charged with murder while on duty. Samayoa was patrolling the Bayview neighborhood along with Field training officer Edric Talusan when the two had observed Keita O’Neil allegedly carjacking a minivan. After O’Neil was eventually blocked in an alleyway by police, the unarmed man had allegedly attempted to flee and that is when Christopher Samayoa shot Keita to death. It was also alleged that Samayoa did not turn on his police body camera until after the shooting and that lack of following protocol raised suspicion amongst the concerned communities and subsequently he was terminated from his job in early 2018.
The other charges on file that Officer Samayoa must stand to face are involuntary/voluntary manslaughter, firing a semi-automatic weapon in a negligent manner and assault. The O’Neil family is being represented by Civil rights attorney John Burris and has been waiting three years for some form of justice that was long overdue. There is no word on if FTO Edric Talusan will be held responsible for any wrongdoing or brought up on charges for misconduct.
The task is to reconstruct the lie of privilege being the excuse for violating human rights with impunity because officers were sworn in to represent “law enforcement” not the “outlaw enforcement” behavior that contributes to an already “spiritually unhealthy” society without rules or morals. How can citizens, especially those of color “obey” and “respect” a system whose “agents of the state” possess the mentality of the “you can’t break the law, but I can” double standards? And when you add the poisonous roots of the false sense of superiority and racism it is bound to grow into a toxic tree that shadows the whole nation in a very negative way.
Officers Sgt. Albin T. Pearson and Dwight A. Pitterson from Newport News, Virginia were also brought up on murder charges during the recent “police accountability sweeps” in the shooting death of Henry K. Berry III that happened late December of last year. The 43 year-old man was shot while inside of his home over an incident involving a tussle over a taser. Berry, who was known to have mental health issues was accused of resisting arrest after police had arrived to slap Mr. Berry with misdemeanor charges over repeated distress phone calls to 911. Perhaps law enforcement was more irritated that Henry Berry was calling excessively but the “professionals” completely overlooked the theory that maybe Mr. Berry was calling out for help and the way the police had responded possibly had triggered him in such a way that may have led up to his demise.
The bottom line is that holding police accountable for murdering and violating the people’s civil rights is centuries overdue and it is not easy, especially for the descendants of colonizers to unpack the deeply-rooted “training technique” that has always been used as a strategy to uphold the worldwide stranglehold of white supremacy and oppression. On the flip side it is very courageous of the people to become more empowered by utilizing our voices-to be the change this world needs and no longer shall we wait in bloody vain for the “unjust” to create the change on the people’s behalf because it is a suicidal way of thinking and unrealistic. All that said- Power to the People!
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