Seattle, WA (PPN) – African Americans are beginning to feel as if the police are targeting their race and have no regard to take their life away. It’s too much. Another black citizen in America has been shot and killed by a police officer.
Seattle Police Department responded to a 911 burglary call on Sunday morning around 10 a.m. at the Brettler Family Place apartments in Magnuson Park. When the police arrived, Charleena Lyles, 30, had a knife in her hand and the two white police officers shot and killed her immediately without trying to deescalate the situation or use a taser.
“There’s no reason for her to be shot in front of her babies,” Lyles sister, Monika Williams yelled at reporters. “The Seattle police shot the wrong one today.”
According to King County Jail records, Lyles was jailed on June 5 for obstruction of public official and 2 counts of harassment. Lyles has been struggling with mental-health issues over the past year. The family believes that if she was not black, she would not have been killed. She was released last Wednesday.
“Why couldn’t they have Tased her? They could have taken her down. I could have taken her down,” said Williams. Lyles was a small woman that easily could have been detained by police.
SPD has been under federal investigation since 2012 after the Department of Justice found that officers use excessive force against African Americans, and people with mental or substance abuse problems.
Updated May 20, 2017
Recording of the shooting was released. Click here for audio.
