This week USA Today featured a full report regarding what happened to Adam Toledo, a thirteen-year-old boy recently killed by a police officer in Chicago, IL. The headline reads 'We failed Adam': Body camera videos show 13-year-old Adam Toledo put hands up before fatal police shooting in Chicago. Though the shooting happened almost a month ago, the body cam video was just released this past Thursday. After Adam was shot, stories swirled around his age, his possession of a weapon he may have been brandishing at police, and even his wayward behavior—A child of the streets. Allegedly, he was killed in a police pursuit that resulted in him dying from one gunshot wound to his chest. But it’s all fun and games until the family demands the video, and once again the mayor and the Chicago Police Department have earned a big proverbial side-eye.
When these awful things happen, we all seem to hold our breath when we find out there is a video. We withhold judgement, waiting to see exactly what happened. I can’t imagine why it is so hard to just acknowledge that something bad happened and an investigation is underway. I don’t really think there is much to lose since the credibility of police is shot to hell in communities of color, and no one believes people who seem to get caught in lies on an almost daily basis. Now, we the people, are left to grapple with how many of those statements were made with knowledge of what can be seen in the video?
Sadly, the video shows a thirteen-year-old Adam with both hands up, seconds before he takes a bullet from the firearm of a police officer. This is the epitome of why the trust between the police and citizens of color remains eroded. Complying with the police, as seen in this video, does not guarantee protection from harm. It’s the police paradox. Not all police are there to serve and protect me. Unfortunately, the experiences of countless friends, relatives and strangers teach our youth that one encounter with law enforcement can change your life forever.
Adam ran away because he was afraid, and police are a symbol of confusion for urban youth. Because of the technology and access we now have, the evidence continues to pile demonstrating why this confusion exists for society and the world at large. The American justice system as it is currently structured is hit or miss for many Americans. People who question why Adam was outside at night or what he was doing before the police arrived on the scene are ridiculous. It doesn’t matter. We don’t fund police to kill people, and if that is the only way we can maintain law and order, we the people are inviting the leaders in our country, once again, to rethink the American justice system.
Fight or Flight
It is a completely human and natural response to run away when one is scared. In response to acute stress, our nervous system experiences a rush of hormones which sounds an alarm to protect yourself. We call this response,‘fight or flight’,
“When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee.”
I trust that this makes sense to any reasonable person, and when you take biology and throw in the myriad of other intervening variables like time of day, race, gender, etc. we should almost expect every child of color to react by running away upon the arrival of the police. What I will never be able to make sense of is any notion that the only way to manage a crisis with such a small child is to use a gun on a child’s premature body. He didn’t shoot him to slow him down or even fire a warning shot, he shot a baby in his chest. He killed him. This video and this whole ordeal is beyond tragic. It’s disheartening, disappointing and senseless.
The Trauma Continues
I work for an organization in Chicago, serving youth like Adam, and I can only imagine the stifling trauma this has introduced to his family and his community. The timing could not be worse as the country watches to see if justice will be done for the murder of George Floyd and another person of color, Adam Wright, is shot dead by a Minnesota Police Officer. Leaders need to be aware of the added layers of terror and confusion being imposed on children/people of color in this country.
We have a responsibility to acknowledge their pain. How can we teach children to hope when they are constantly receiving messages that they are worthless from our society? Aren’t they worthy of the love and protection other children have access to? We are not foolish enough to believe that Adam is the first thirteen year old boy to come in contact with a firearm. His skin color is not a license to carelessly gun him down and then have the audacity to lie and attempt to blame him for what happened. Children in Chicago are growing up watching their peers murdered in droves every single day and are now subjected to watching video after video of police murdering and abusing without consequences.
Systematizing Transparency and Accountability
There is no justifiable response but to stand in solidarity with Adam’s family, the community organizations and all local officials who have the courage to demand transparency, accountability and justice. As I see it, that is where we need to start. Dealing with these mounting cases of police officers who abuse force and violate citizens has to be hard for our leaders, but we know that the right thing to do is almost never easy. So far we see that denying the problem has not worked and neither has burying our heads with hopes that these officers (and their colleagues who are complicit in the lies and inaccurate recounting of events) turn from the wicked ways and do the right thing. For starters we need two things, transparency and accountability and they need to be systematized.
Transparency—Every time a civilian is shot by a police officer, the video needs to be made public. This will eliminate attempts to cover/hide the facts, and it should create a deterrent for acting in a manner that uses excessive force or abuses the rights of citizens.
Accountability— Charges need to be filed when citizens are abused, shot or murdered by a police officer under circumstances such as these. We can’t make this degree of error justifiable.
It only wounds our community more when we attempt to minimize or cover up the crimes of police, and Adam’s story is an outcry that this has to stop. Even more, it’s a message to run away as hard and fast as you can because cooperation continues to be an even bigger gamble.
Elizabeth Toledo has started a memorial fund for her son Adam, killed by a police officer at 13 yrs. old. Click to visit her page and make a donation.