RantCrush Top 5: July 25, 2017

Last week, Australian national Justine Damond was shot and killed in Minneapolis by a police officer. Damond had called the police after witnessing what she believed to be an assault in her neighborhood. The officer who shot her, Mohamed Noor, claims that he was “startled” by a loud noise before firing the shot. Another officer in the car, Matthew Harrity, has confirmed that account. But some anonymous activists in Minneapolis apparently wanted to make the point that “startled” isn’t a good enough reason to shoot someone, and painstakingly installed a series of signs throughout the area.

These signs have been popping up around Minneapolis / St Paul over the weekend pic.twitter.com/zhmUzVzfPc

— Steve Drew 📚 (@elquesogrande1) July 23, 2017

Damond’s death certainly shook the Twin Cities, and the incident led to the resignation of Minneapolis’ police chief. But we’ve also seen criticism about the nature of the reaction. Noor, a black man, doesn’t appear to be getting the same kind of “Blue Lives Matter” support we’ve grown to expect after police-involved shootings. And Damond, a white woman, hasn’t received the victim-blaming scrutiny that Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, or dozens of others were subjected to.

Damond’s death certainly shook the Twin Cities, and the incident led to the resignation of Minneapolis’ police chief. But we’ve also seen criticism about the nature of the reaction. Noor, a black man, doesn’t appear to be getting the same kind of “Blue Lives Matter” support we’ve grown to expect after police-involved shootings. And Damond, a white woman, hasn’t received the victim-blaming scrutiny that Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, or dozens of others were subjected to.

I struggle to understand why ppl can’t recognize tht Justine Damond’s death was a tragedy *and* tht black victims don’t get the same empathy

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) July 24, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.