LLG Coast to Coast for NAACP - Day 7
As we move forward into the final few days of fundraising campaign, the team has made it to Phoenix in our coast to coast for change trek. Here, we’d like to share the story of Dion Humphrey.
On January 10, 2020 Dion Humphrey had just dropped his sisters off at school when he was mistaken for another black man that the police were looking for. The Phoenix police fired a flash grenade at Humphrey who was startled by the noise and ran, the police state he was acting suspicious and believed him to be an armed suspect who had been violent with police on an earlier occasion; the suspect they mistook the 19 year old, 120 pound Dion for was a 250 pound man with facial hair and tattoos both of which Dion does not have. Following the flash grenade, the police fired several rubber bullets at him hitting him in the chest and stomach area causing damage that needed medical attention. The police held Dion for questioning for four hours without providing medical attention. Following his detainment, he was hospitalized for twenty days and needed heart surgery due to being shot by rubber bullets.
Dion’s story is another one of many and one too many, as we have seen in our coast to coast discussion of racism, injustice, and the use of excessive force by our police departments. We share Dion’s story and the stories of others to bring them to light and to seek change.
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/30/native-american-police-deaths-loreal-tsingine