Here we go again. Not only young black men are more prone to criminality, conservatives say, they are also master contortionists who can somehow reach for their guns while handcuffed behind their backs and take their own lives.
Yah, right.
The Louisiana state police are investigating the death Victor White, III, 22, who allegedly shot and killed himself while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.
White was allegedly involved in an altercation and when deputies responded to the call they claim to have found illegal drugs on him which lead to his arrest.
White was in handcuffs with his hands behind his back when he was killed, allegedly by his own gun — even though a search of his body did not turn up a gun, but only turned up drugs.
Once at the sheriff’s office, White, reportedly became uncooperative and refused to exit the deputy’s patrol vehicle, reports CBS affiliate KLFY.
Trooper Stephen Hammons says White produced a handgun and fired one round, striking himself in the back.
White was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Sheriff Louis Ackal asked State Police to investigate the incident. State Police-led investigations in deaths involving officers are normal.
“We’re investigating how he got the gun,” Hammons said late Monday. “It’s too early in our investigation to comment further.”
Rev. Raymond Brown, president of National Action Now of New Orleans, said Monday night that his organization is looking into White’s death.
“Something is seriously wrong with this picture,” Brown said.
This is, tragically, not the first time a handcuffed black man has died under highly-questionable circumstances.
In August 2012, Chavis Carter, a 21-year-old man from Mississippi, was shot to death in the back of a Jonesboro, Ark. Police Department squad car. Police claim that he pulled the trigger even though he was handcuffed and shot on the right side of the head.
Carter’s mother said her son was left-handed.
Jonesboro police chief Micheal Yates says the scenario is not far fetched at all.
“The average person who has never been in handcuffs, that never been around inmates or people in custody would react exactly the same way you just did: ‘How could that be possible?’ Well, fact of it is, it’s very possible. It’s quite easy,” Jonesboro Chief of Police Micheal Yates told CNN.
