2 weeks ago
Last week, the Monroe County District Attorney’s office announced it had cleared the officers of wrongdoing.
The use of deadly force in this case was justified, according to the DA’s office, because the officers did not know the weapon Hall carried wasn’t lethal, and because he failed to follow officers’ orders. “It’s a testament to the troopers that they didn’t shoot sooner,” said First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso during a press conference.
The family and its supporters reject this decision, saying it amounts to blaming the victim.
“You have a victim of gun violence, police brutality, and you also have a youth that is suffering from mental health [crisis],” said Kim. She connected those circumstances to the death of Walter Wallace, Jr., a Black man with known mental illness who was killed by Philadelphia police last summer.