Though #BlackLivesMatter activists were originally spurred to protest by the high-profile deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner last year, 2015 has been no less dangerous for African-Americans.
In the past few days alone, police killed a man who allegedly broke a condition of his parole but wasn’t carrying a weapon and fatally shot an unarmed 19-year-old.
Now reports of yet another heartbreaking officer-involved homicide have emerged: 27-year-old Anthony Hill, an Air Force veteran who served in the Middle East and may have suffered from bipolar disorder, was gunned down in an Atlanta-area apartment complex by a Dekalb County cop. Hill was naked and erratic, video evidence shows—crawling on the ground and swinging from balconies—prompting concerned residents to call 911.
That Hill was unarmed and in obvious distress has once again galvanized the tireless critics of an American police state disturbingly eager to use lethal force against black suspects. In addition to the enduring #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, they’re hammering a new one: #Antlanta.Mourners read through Hill’s revealing Twitter and Facebook feeds, while his girlfriend Bridget asked for support, shared her grief, and turned away requests for comment from the media.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will lead a probe into the shooting.Photo via Anthony Hill/Facebook
