Officials in the city of Pittsburgh have announced that three white police officers are going to be suspended for allegedly beating a black teenage arts student, Jordan Miles, while he was walking to visit his grandmother. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl made the announcement on Monday.
“Since the investigation will take several weeks to complete, the immediate action I call for today is necessary for the safety of the officers involved, their colleagues and the peace of mind and safety of the entire community,” Ravenstahl said.
The officers were suspended with pay and the mayor didn’t answer questions regarding the specifics of the allegations. The teen’s family is expected to sue the city for the injuries suffered by Miles.
Jordan Miles was walking to his grandmother’s house at night, and according to the criminal complaint, was leaning against a building “as if he was trying to avoid being seen.” The officers then claim that he had a bottle of Mountain Dew in his pocket that they thought was a gun. Miles disputes this claim and says that he almost never drinks Mountain Dew and didn’t even have a soda bottle in his pocket.
The case got national attention, because Miles is an 18-year-old violist who attends the Creative Performing Arts High School, a prestigious school in the city of Pittsburgh. Miles alleges that officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak beat him without just cause and then created a story to justify their behavior.
What’s most interesting is that Miles himself faces charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Miles claims that he is only being charged because he was trying to get away from plain clothes officers whom he thought were trying to kidnap him. In fact, he says that he didn’t even know that the men were police officers until other officers arrived on the scene.
The case of Jordan Miles is quite disturbing. Not only did the officers beat him mercilessly, they even ripped a dread lock out of his head. As I spoke the other day on the Tom Joyner Morning Show about empowering black youth, I mentioned the importance of individual and family accountability. The problem with the case of Jordan Miles, however, is that his family was holding him accountable and raising him to be a responsible and intelligent young man. Despite their efforts, though, they were forced to endure the wrath of a police system that refuses to hold itself equally accountable, especially when it comes to black men. So for every person who wants to believe that black men deserve the disrespect we receive in the criminal justice system, the Jordan Miles case is a clear reminder that things are not always what they seem.
People should not have to live in fear of the police. Even more compelling is that if Jordan Miles were not an honor student with a clear criminal record, we would have believed the officers’ stories without question. For every Jordan Miles, there are 1,000 other men and women who go through the same experience and are not lucky enough to have their own stories get the attention they deserve. It’s time to take serious steps to challenge police authority over American citizens and to demand that officers show the same respect that they expect to receive. If it is indeed the case that these officers maliciously attacked this young man the way he claims they did, then the officers should be sent to prison.
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