Police Shooting Attorney – Mothers Against Police Brutality Protest Officer’s April 2017 Acquittal
On April 21, 2013, Fred Bradford was riding his bicycle when two police officers in a squad car tried to pull him over for not wearing a helmet or having safety lights on his bike. Instead of stopping when the officers turned the siren on, Bradford began pedaling away. The officers pursued Bradford off-road in the patrol car and struck Bradford with the vehicle. According to investigators, the officers didn’t call for an ambulance until 8 minutes later, only after moving the squad car and the bicycle involved. Bradford’s back and ribs were broken. He died from his injuries on May 13, 2013. According to his mother, he would have been paralyzed if he had survived.
During the time when Bradford was on life support, he spoke about what happened. He said he didn’t stop when told to by police out of fear for his life. When the officers asked him where he was going, he just kept riding.
The officers involved were fired for allegedly violating department policy. The officer who was driving was charged with criminally negligent homicide for the auto-bicycle collision.
The officer’s criminal trial began on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. The outcome of the trial was that the officer was acquitted.
In protest of the acquittal, about three dozen people gathered outside the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department on Sunday, April 24. The gathering was also a vigil to remember Fred Bradford.
The Mothers Against Police Brutality said the entire law enforcement system is guilty. One of the founders of MAPB said, “This case is the anatomy of racism in America.”
Dallas-based Mothers Against Police Brutality has been attempting to do more than simply protest; they have been making efforts to effect policy changes.
The perception that police officers are not often held accountable for misconduct, even when lives are lost as a result, has become a cause for widespread protests.
–Guest Contributor
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