Kansas cops fatally shoot unarmed teen 16 times, media and DoJ silent

Kansas cops fatally shoot unarmed teen 16 times, media and DoJ silent

By Thomas Lifson

You probably haven’t heard about the case of Joseph Jennings, the unarmed Ottawa, Kansas 18 year old who was shot 16 times by police on August 23. Eric Holder is not outraged, nor is Al Sharpton. The town of Ottawa has experienced no riots or even protest marches.
After all, Jennings is only a Caucasian, and there is no profit to be had for the left in hyping an injustice done to a “white boy.”

Here is Kansas City television station KCTV’s report on the shooting:



Raw Story (hat tip: Gateway Pundit) first publicized the shooting nationally almost a week ago, but the story has been slow to gain traction.http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/25/kansas-police-shot-unarmed-suicidal-teen-16-times-as-family-says-they-begged-them-not-to/

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/08/cops-shoot-18-year-old-kansas-teen-16-times-media-ignores-story-because-hes-white-video/

Family members of a teen who was shot at least 16 times by police in Ottawa, Kansas said this week that the 18-year-old was unarmed and suicidal when he was gunned down.

Brandy Smith told KCTV that police were there when her nephew, 18-year-old Joseph Jennings, had tried to kill himself with pills last week. (snip)http://www.kctv5.com/story/26355241/ottawa-police-involved-in-shooting

…he was on a “suicide mission” when he walked to Orscheln Farm and Home, according to his aunt.

Smith recalled that around six officers responded, and two of them had helped save Jennings’ life by taking him to the hospital after his overdose just days before.

“It was like six — six officers, and one cop yelled, ‘Bag him!’ And they bagged him,” she said. “And he kind of puffed up a little bit, and then they bagged him two more times, and then like 16 shots rang out, and they shot him. And he fell to the ground.”

Jennings was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Smith said that she was only feet away from Jennings and did not see a weapon.

“And I told them, if he has a gun, it’s a BB gun,” she insisted. “But we don’t know that… He knew that if he acted like he had a gun that they would shoot him, and I told them that.”

“I told them, ‘That’s Joseph Jennings, he’s suicidal, he’s upset, don’t shoot him,’” Smith added. “And that’s what I don’t understand is, why did it take them shooting him 16 times at least for them to bring him down? Why didn’t they bag him, knock him down, and then go and take care of whatever they needed to take care of?”

Smith said that her husband tried to help, but police threatened to shoot him too.

“My husband was going to tackle him. He was within arms reach. They said to get back or they were going to shoot him,” she explained.

The case is now in the hands of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. I will not presume to know the facts of the case, or even to judge the police conduct (though I am worried by it and want a complete investigation). My point is that despite all the blather one hears about “white privilege” and “open season on black males” the fact is that a media and official double standard seems to exist when unarmed young males are gunned down by police, and the disadvantage is not against blacks.