Thursday, October 09, 2014

Vonderrick Myers Jr., Another Young Black Teen, Murdered By St. Louis Police
St. Louis police have killed another African American youth.
Posted by Lincoln Anthony Blades on Oct 9, 2014
uptown st louis

This has been an extremely tense week in St. Louis, Missouri. While the Ferguson story may not capture major media headlines as it did in early August, the protestors have continued their fight for justice. They’ve crashed operas, playoff baseball games and anywhere they feel their voices are needed. Yet, despite our community’s collective effort to shed light on police brutality, systemic corruption, and the erasure of value to Black lives, we are now presented with the troubling case of Vonderrick Myers Jr., a black 18 year old who was killed last night by St. Louis police.

Myers death, as expected, is a tale of two perspectives as police and eyewitnesses tell extremely different stories about what happened. The only thing that is mutually agreed upon is that the shooting took place last night in the Shaw neighborhood, which is eerily close to where Michael Brown was savagely murdered. The police claim that a 32-year old, white officer with 6 years experience on the force attempted to perform a “pedestrian check” (essentially a stop and frisk) of four pedestrians while on duty at his security job. The four men decided to flee and the officer pursued Myers Jr., who managed to hide in some bushes. The police claim that Myers then jumped from behind the bushes at which point a struggle ensued, resulting in Myers’ sweater coming off, exposing his gun. The police assert that Myers then pulled out his gun and fired three shots directly at the officer until his gun jammed. The officer then returned fire and hit Myers 17 times, killing him on the spot.

According to eyewitnesses and Vonderrick Myers’ cousin Teyonna Myers, things went down very differently. They stated that Myers Jr., who worked in a warehouse while also attending high school, was coming out of a store where he purchased a sandwich.

When he came out he was approached by the off-duty officer, who was working his second-gig as a security guard, who wanted to perform a pedestrian check because they believed they fit the profile of other young men they were searching for. At this point, a struggle ensued and Myers Jr. was tased, and then subsequently shot 16 times because the officer thought he had a gun in his hand, when all he had was a sandwich.

It should be no surprise that residents reacted with outright rage throughout the night upon hearing of Vonderrick Myers’ death. Police car windows have been smashed, officers are being openly berated and the community is once again caught between mourning, exasperation and bitterness. Large questions are already looming over this case such as, why was an off-duty officer trying to perform a pedestrian check? Where’s the gun that Myers Jr. supposedly fired at the officer? And are we actually going to have this officer made available for questioning and possible prosecution?

Hopefully the facts will come in quickly and accurately, but until then, the best thing that we can do for Vonderrick Myers Jr. and his grieving family is not let him become the main suspect in his own murder. In the upcoming days and weeks, we will probably see all kinds of reports, pictures and videos used to paint him as a “thug” and a gangster. And those ominous words, “he was known to police” will creep into various reports as a method to downplay the value of his life. As Syreeta McFadden once eloquently stated, “only in America can a dead black boy go on trial for his own murder.” While the facts are still unclear, the reality that transparency is a must in this case should be a no-brainer.

Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.

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