Dexter Reed
Tavion Koonce-Williams
Donald Armstrong
This week there were several controversial police shootings/in custody deaths. There has not been this much “news” on this front in a single week in a while. This could just be a coincidence, or more likely, that the anti-police activists are making as much as noise as possible in an effort to regain the 2020 magic of riots and violence that they crave leading up to the election.
1. Dexter Reed
They are trying to make Dexter Reed the next “George Floyd”. Now, the facts of this case are an inconvenient issue for the anti-police activists and transitioning Mr. Reed into a sympathetic victim will be an incredible magic trick - the fact that the mayor of Chicago (Brandon Johnson) and the media are playing along and ignoring objective facts are giving this case some legs.
This case will be the subject of our Officer Involved series that will be published this weekend and we will break down this case obliterate the dishonest narratives already being spun.
March 21, 2024 Chicago police officers assigned to a “tactical team” initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle that was driven by Dexter Reed. Mr. Reed as a 26-year-old convicted felon and was currently out on bond for gun related offense.
During the traffic stop police officers gave Mr. Reed orders to:
Not roll up the window.
Exit the vehicle.
Mr. Reed refused to follow those instructions and instead shot a police officer in the wrist. Mr. Reed fired a total of 11 rounds at police officers. In response, four officers fired a total of 96 rounds at Mr. Reed.
Mr. Reed sustained fatal injuries. The injured officer is expected to make a full recovery.
The “concerns” levied in this case are:
The reason for the traffic stop.
How the cops were dressed.
The type of vehicles that the cop were driving.
The amount of shots fired.
When there is an Officer-Involved-Shooting the family of the individual shot by police often go on a media tour and say ridiculous and untrue things about the incident. Whereas police officers are not allowed to publicly defend themselves. That is incredibly frustrating. I posted a video on Tik Tok this where I responded to the bullshit being spoken to reporters on this case. It resonated. At the time of wriitng this article the video just over 2 million views (check it out).
(Police body cam footage of OIS)
2. Tavion Koonce-Williams
On March 1, 2024 a woman walking her dog in Akron, Ohio called 911 in reference to a man that was pointing a gun at homes. The caller expressed that she was concerned that the man was going to start shooting at the houses because he was holding the gun “sideways”.
A police officer arrived on scene and made contact with the suspect (who ended up being a 15-year-old named Tavion Koonce-Williams). The officer gave Mr. Williams a command to “let me see your hands” and before the officer could even step out of his patrol car - Mr. Williams pointed the weapon at the officer.
The officer fired one round - striking Mr. Williams in the hand
(Yeah, he literally shot the gun out of Tavion’s hand. Incredible shot.)
After the OIS Mr. Williams provided the officer with some important information and yelled, “It’s fake! It’s fake! It’s fake! It’s fake!”
And, he was right. It was a fake gun. But, it sure as hell looks real.
The officer did not utilize any additional force after the initial shot and police officers rendered medical aid to Mr. Williams - who is (thankfully) expected to make a full recovery.
The District Attorney had declined to prosecute the officer. That is obviously the correct legal decision as the officer had a reasonable belief that a gun was pointed at him as he fired his weapon and made the shot of the century.
(Police ody cam footage of OIS)
3. Donald Armstrong
Admittedly, this case is not as clear cut as the first two.
Also Ben Crump has been retained and vocal about this case and I am trying to not allow that to cloud my objectivity.
On March 7, 2024 a call was made to Miami police in reference to a man in his forties that was acting erratically and reportedly on drugs.
Officers arrived and made contact with Donald Armstrong who was armed with a screwdriver. It appears (from cell phone footage) that the officers were speaking with Mr. Armstrong near a porch to a residence.
The officers deployed a Taser two times and the device did not achieve the desired result.
After the second Taser deployment - Mr. Armstrong took a few awkward steps forward and swung the screwdriver around. As he does this none of the six officers on scene take steps backward and one officer fires their weapon six times. Mr. Armstrong was struck and is now paralyzed. Mr. Armstrong is also facing Aggravated Assault charges.
Some believe that Mr. Armstrong took those awkward steps and swung the screwdriver because he was under the power of the Taser and on his way to falling down.
Some believe that the Taser was not effective and that Mr. Armstrong was advancing on the officers with the screwdriver intentionally.
The reasonableness of the OIS will rest on which of these is true.
Great article as always! But there is nothing in the article about Kenneth Knotts…?