Jonathan Price Is Another Name We Must Say Out Loud
Another "officer-involved" shooting. Another Black victim. Another name to say out loud. From WFAA in Dallas:
Friends and family of the man killed, Jonathan Price, said he was trying to intervene in a domestic violence situation before he was killed at the Kwik Check gas station at 103 Santa Fe Street. Officials have not named Price, but relatives confirmed his identity to WFAA. The Texas Rangers have released few details on the shooting or the officer involved, other than to say the officer was placed on administrative leave. Relatives and friends said 31-year-old Price was a city employee and beloved in the Wolfe City community, about an hour northeast of Dallas.
Marcella Louis was in bed when she got the call about the shooting. She rushed to the gas station to get near her son. "And they wouldn’t let me get close to my baby. I just wanted to hold his hand and they wouldn’t let me do that," Louis said. "I just wanted to crawl over there to him." The mother said she wasn't surprised to hear her son was trying to intervene in a fight. "That’s what he always did, tried to help others. I taught him that all the years," Louis said. Witnesses said a man and a woman were in an argument, and Price tried to step in. The man assaulted Price, and when officers arrived, they used a taser on Price before the shooting.
This came to my attention from the electric Twitter machine account of Will Middlebrooks, a former Red Sox player and childhood friend of Jonathan Price who posted the following on his Facebook page.
See this face? This is the face of one of my childhood friends. The face of my first ever favorite teammate. The face of a good man. But unfortunately it’s the face of a man whose life was taken away from him last night with his hands in the air, while a small town East Texas cop shot him dead. Why? Bc he was trying to break up a fight at a gas station... for some reason he was singled out. I’ll let you do the math. There’s no excuses this time...“he was a criminal”... Nope, not this time. “He resisted arrest, just comply with the cops”.. Nope that one doesn’t work this time either. This was purely an act of racism. Period. So, for all of you that think this is all bullshit, you need to check yourselves. I’m sick. I’m heartbroken... and I’m furious. Love you, JP. See you when I see you bro.
Middlebrooks got some pushback on social media about attributing Price's death to "purely an act of racism." However, he stood his ground.
I am certain of it... so is everyone else in that predominantly white, country town of 1400 people... including my friends, who are white, that were with him when it happened... now is not the time to come at me with bs like this. Take a step back.
Middlebrooks also has started a Go Fund Me page for Price's family that, as of Monday morning, had raised $55,000.
As far as we know now, Price stepped in to stop a man from beating a woman. The police rolled up, sized up the situation, and tased Price before they shot him. None of it makes sense except in the most basic sense. Price was Black and he was there, and, therefore, by the logic of too much of modern American law enforcement, he was a target. Now, he's another name to say out loud.
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