Check For Cops

Columbus, Ohio cops shot and killed twenty-year-old Donovan Lewis, an unarmed Black man, this week during a nighttime raid while he was in bed.

The police burst into Lewis’ apartment with dogs to serve Lewis with arrest warrants on charges of domestic violence, assault, and improper handling of a firearm.

In body-camera footage of Tuesday’s shooting released by authorities, a Columbus cop pushes open a bedroom door and immediately fires at Lewis as he sits up in bed. They then order him to crawl out of bed and then handcuff him to it. He died on his way to the hospital.

Between shooting and handcuffing Lewis, the cops told him to “stop resisting arrest.”

Was Lewis holding a gun when the cop shot him? No, he was not and the cop didn’t take enough time to notice as he shot as soon as the door opened.

The lawyers representing the cop who shot Lewis said that police officers “are forced to make split-second decisions” when faced with “volatile encounters in dangerous situations.” The only one making it a volatile encounter and a dangerous situation was the cop. This cop’s “split-second decision” was the wrong one.

The police chief said Lewis may have had a vape pen or electronic cigarette in his hand, though it’s not seen in the video. Still, vape pens and electronic cigarettes are not guns. They don’t look anything like guns. Now we can add vape pens with cell phones and tasers for items cops mistake for guns.

Nighttime raids are costing tragic losses of lives. Minneapolis cops killed Amir Locke while he was sleeping on a couch during a no-knock raid several months ago. In March 2020, Louisville cops shot and killed Breonna Taylor during one of their nighttime raids, and she wasn’t even the person they were looking for. What are the police going to do next, shoot unarmed black people while they’re on the toilet?

According to a 2019 study by Northwestern University, Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than White Americans. The rates are higher in Columbus where Black people are 4.5 times more likely to be killed by police than White people.

Andre Hill, a 47-year-old unarmed Black man, was shot four times by a Columbus cop while leaving a friend’s house in 2020. Last year, Ma’Khia Bryant, a Black 16-year-old, was shot by a Columbus cop outside her home. The city had to pay out $10 million for the killing of Hill but an investigation let Bryant’s shooter go.

The Black Lives Matter movement is just as important today as when it rose after the murder of George Floyd. Black lives still matter and it still needs to be said.

Music note: I listened to the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. You should too.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw: