By Ryan Shepard
Apr 27, 2021
April 20 will be remembered as one of the more eventful days in American history. In Minneapolis, a jury found
George Floyd. Then, Columbus Police Department Officer
Nicholas Reardon shot and killed 16-year-old
Ma Khia Bryant.
One week after her death, much has been made about the events that led up to her death. According to reports, Bryant called the police because she felt she was being threatened by older girls in her neighborhood. Officers made their way out to the site of the dispute while Bryant attempted to defend herself. Carrying a knife, she appears to chase away the girls that reportedly threatened her. Less than fifteen seconds after arriving to the scene and assessing the situation, Reardon pulled out his gun and killed the Ohio teenager.
“I want the world to know that Ma’Khia was beautiful,” the teen’s mother,
CNN in an interview last week. “She had a sweet little voice. Oh my gosh, she was just so talented. She was … on the path to going many places, definitely.”
Don Bryant and
Deja Torrence, cousins of Ma’Khia, told
CNN the 16-year-old was “a good student, a good person,” and that her life was cut short by “disproportionate and unjustified use of force.”
Body camera footage of the teen’s shooting death was released and protests broke out in the city, which has seen several police-involved shootings in the last few months. Ma’Khia’s death came the same day as the verdict in the
Isaiah Brown and several others have died at the hands of police. As the issue continues to plague American society, the world watches on.
Struck by the disturbing amount of violence brought forth by police officers in the United States, a group of human rights experts from 11 countries put together a 188-page report dissecting police murders in America. Through the report, the group calls out America for violating international human rights obligations, abusing Black citizens and rarely holding police officers accountable. In the end, the group hopes that the International Criminal Court will investigate America s policing practices.
“This finding of crimes against humanity was not given lightly, we included it with a very clear mind,” human rights expert Hina Jilani told The Guardian.
“I want the world to know that Ma’Khia was beautiful,” the teen’s mother,
CNN in an interview last week. “She had a sweet little voice. Oh my gosh, she was just so talented. She was … on the path to going many places, definitely.”
Don Bryant and
Deja Torrence, cousins of Ma’Khia, told
CNN the 16-year-old was “a good student, a good person,” and that her life was cut short by “disproportionate and unjustified use of force.”
Body camera footage of the teen’s shooting death was released and protests broke out in the city, which has seen several police-involved shootings in the last few months. Ma’Khia’s death came the same day as the verdict in the
You just said that on camera. This s - is going viral, the person behind the camera says.
A police officer in Columbus fatally shot Bryant last Tuesday. Graphic bodycam footage showed Bryant lunging at another girl with what the police said was a knife just before the officer fired.
The officer had been responding to a 911 call in which a person said somebody was trying to stab them. Bryant s mother told 10 News that her daughter had been the one to call the police for help. Officials have not identified the caller.
A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told Insider on Monday morning that the department was aware of this incident and it is currently under investigation.