In October, John Sawchak, a White man, shot and nearly killed his Black neighbor, Davis Moturi, over a dispute regarding the trimming of a tree. The incident was a culmination of a long period of harassment inflicted by Sawchak on Moturi and his family. Now, the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) has found itself having to explain why they took so long to take action against Sawchak during this period of time, including not arresting Sawchak for days after his attempted murder of Moturi. Dr. Phillip Atiba Solomon, CPE Co-founder and CEO, explains to CNN why the outrage around MPD’s response is justified:
But Philip Solomon, co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity, said he feels Moturi and the community’s outrage is justified – especially in a city like Minneapolis – because police hesitation led to Moturi being injured, and the police have not historically adopted the same measured, methodical approach to apprehending someone when the suspect is Black.
“De-escalation and the ‘duty to retreat’ are in the interest of everyone’s public safety,” Solomon said. “And the way we know that, is that when a White person shoots their neighbor in the neck, that’s exactly what (the police) do.”
Read the article in full at MSN.com.