Another unarmed man has been shot and killed by police. Two days before 2015, Robert Earl Lawrence, 30, found a stray cat in Dothan City, Alabama.
Lawrence attempted to do the right thing by giving the stray cat to the Dothan City Animal shelter. However, officials at the animal shelter began hassling Lawrence and told him that he must show identification. Lawrence told the employees that he was a sovereign citizen and does not follow the laws of the U.S. government and lives by common law.
The employees eventually called the police after Lawrence refused to show ID. Once police arrived, Lawrence showed the officers paperwork that identified him as a sovereign citizen. But that wasn’t enough for the officers. At some point, the situation escalated and Lawrence, who was unarmed, was shot in the abdomen. Lawrence later died from his injuries.
The injustice that continues to occur across the nation is appalling. A man should not lose his life after attempting to turn over a stray cat to an animal shelter.
The shooting is being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation. But it has already been determined that police violence is being mishandled at the state level. At this point, President Obama must implement a bill that forces every police killing of an unarmed person to be handled in a federal court.
Until more action is taken against police officers who kill unarmed persons, people will continue to die at the hands of those who are paid to protect and serve.
