Topline
Newly released body camera footage from the Blendon Township Police Department shows two police officers in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, approach and try to detain Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant 21-year-old, before one of the officers shoots Young, who was pronounced dead after the incident.
This still image from body cam video released by the Blendon Township Police on Friday shows an … [+]
Key Facts
The video begins with two officers assisting a citizen who has locked their keys inside their car before a Kroger employee informs them that a woman in a nearby car, Young, allegedly stole items from the store.
The officers approach Young’s car—with one officer beside the driver’s window and another standing directly in front of the car, and yell at her to exit the vehicle.
Young does not exit the car, but appears to try and drive away to the right of the officer who is standing in front of her car.
The officer then draws his weapon, fires a shot into the windshield and the video shows the car roll onto a sidewalk beside the Kroger, with Young slumped over the wheel.
Young was later pronounced dead at the hospital, and her fetus did not survive.
News Peg
The incident, which took place last week, has sparked local protests and demands from the family that the police department identify the officers involved. It’s now under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford. Neither officer involved has been named and both officers’ faces were blurred in the video.
Crucial Quote
“Having viewed the footage in its entirety, it is undeniable that Ta’Kiya’s death was not only avoidable, but also a gross misuse of power and authority,” lawyers representing Young’s family said in a statement to Forbes and other news organizations.
Key Background
This is the most recent in a series of high-profile incidents where police have killed Black residents, an ongoing topic of controversy and public outrage since the 2014 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, followed by the death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in March 2020, which led to months of nationwide protests. More recently, in January, police in Memphis, Tennessee, beat Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, to death after a traffic stop. Video from body cameras and a nearby security camera showed the officers punching, kicking, pepper spraying and striking Nichols with a baton. Later reviews from the department could not find any evidence of probable cause for the traffic stop. Nonprofit Mapping Police Violence reports that in 2022, 1,201 people were killed by police in the U.S. and Black people, despite making up 12% of the total U.S. population, accounted for 26% of those killed by police.
Further Reading
Blendon Township Police release body cam footage showing fatal shooting of Ta’Kiya Young (WOSU)
Ohio police release video of fatal police shooting of pregnant 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young (CNN)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/09/01/video-showing-fatal-police-shooting-of-pregnant-21-year-old-takiya-young-released-by-law-enforcement/