CODE OF SILENCE

Family Rips Cops for Muting Mics After Shooting Black Man 46 Times

The city of Akron, Ohio, continues to slowly drip out more video about the horrific shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker.

Last week, new footage released to the Akron Beacon Journal revealed that after the shooting of Jayland Walker in Ohio, cops at the scene told others to “go blue,” before officers shut off the audio on their body cameras. Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, died in a hail of bullets after a traffic stop gone horribly wrong, and was ultimately struck dozens of times. Akron Police Captain Dave Laughlin told the Journal that while “go blue” was not official Akron PD language, there are procedures that allow cops to turn off cameras after they’re done with citizen contact. But on Tuesday, Walker’s mother appeared to be on the edge of tears as lawyers ripped into what they said was the city’s humiliating response to his killing, which police said was preceded by Walker firing a gun during a car chase, though he was unarmed when he was shot to death. “We call them heroes, don’t we?” asked lawyer Bobby DiCello, referring to officers who turned off their body cameras’ audio. “What is heroic about turning off your camera, Superman? What is heroic about turning off your microphone?” he asked. Lawyers and local community leaders also announced that the NAACP Akron had gathered over 7,000 signatures in support of new legislation that would call for the creation of an independent police oversight body in the city.