Free Thought Project – by Rachel Blevins
Chicago, IL – Friends and family are heartbroken and demanding answers after a young man was shot in the back and killed by police, and the recently released of body camera footage has revealed that the officer responsible for his death lied to neighbors in an attempted cover-up
Maurice Granton Jr., 24, was killed by police last month, and the Chicago Police Department immediately went into “damage control” mode by claiming that the father of two fled from the officers when they were trying to question him in a drug investigation, and he was armed and dangerous.
The body camera footage that was released shows Granton trying to climb over a fence surrounding an empty lot when an officer opens fire and shoots him in the back. Granton then falls to the ground and is seen writhing in pain. The first 33 seconds of the video contains no sound, which raises questions about how many shots the officer fired, or if he gave his target any kind of warning before he started shooting.
Even though Granton’s legs do not move, and it appears that the gunshot paralyzed him immediately, the officer continues to point his gun at the man. When the audio is introduced, the officer can be heard saying, “Get down! Stay down! Stay there.”
The officer then turned to other officers nearby, and yelled, “There’s a weapon right there! Weapon right there. Get the weapon. Go get the weapon.”
As residents in the neighborhood began to question why there were gunshots, and what was happening, the officer turned and yelled “No one is hurt over here! No one is hurt!”
In addition to the fact that the officer is clearly telling a blatant lie to concerned neighbors, his conduct also shows that he made no attempt to render any kind of medical aid, and instead chose to watch Granton die right in front of him.
While it was clear that the officers couldn’t care less if Granton survived, multiple other people began approaching the scene—a few of whom realized that Granton was the victim and called out his name—and as a crowd formed in protest, the officers on the scene focused on containing it, and they left Granton to die.
The weapon that the officers claim they recovered was more than 20 feet away from Granton’s body, and given the fact that the officer appeared to know exactly where it was seconds after he shot Granton, raises questions about why the officer opened fire in the first place.
The officer shot Granton in the back when the man appeared as though he was not attempting to harm or threaten anyone, and if the officer already knew where the weapon was that he claims were being carried by Granton, then it would be impossible for him to claim that he truly “feared for his life” when he opened fire.
While police did not provide audio of the gunshots, ABC 7 reported that nearby surveillance cameras captured one gunshot followed by at least three consecutive gunshots. While Chicago Police have insisted that it may be possible that Granton fired the first shot, it does raise the question of why they would not immediately provide evidence of that.
Granton’s family is now calling for justice, and for the officer who shot and killed their loved one to face charges for his death. Granton’s father told reporters that he has reviewed the footage and he maintained that “at no point in the video was my son armed. At no point in the video was it a confrontation.”
“It was a cold-blooded murder. It’s the most terrible feeling you can ever feel, to see one of your children killed and especially by a policeman who’s supposed to serve and protect him,” Maurice Granton Sr. said.
The shooting happened on June 6, and NBC Chicago reported that the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) has yet to rule on whether it was “justified.” The Chicago Police Department released a statement insisting that it is providing COPA with “any and all requested information and fully support their methodical review of the facts.”
Maurice Granton Jr. leaves behind two young daughters, and they will be forced to grow up without a father. As The Free Thought Project has reported, unfortunately, this type of shooting is not uncommon. The same police officers who are supposed to “serve and protect” are quick to open fire—often because they know that they can find a way to justify their actions, and they will face no accountability for the lives they have taken.
Watch the body camera footage below:
someone jumping up on a fence with BOTH HANDS is obviously not a threat… no weapon deployment is even possible.
This was nothing less than PREMEDITATED MURDER.
These corporate thugs will soon have REAL reason to ‘fear for their (miserable, worthless) lives’, because everybody and their mother is gonna be gunning for these pukes, once they finally see the light.