MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The culture in the America is so toxic and anti-black that it has created an environment where racist cops believe they can get away with executing unarmed African American men with impunity and without legal repercussions.
Surprisingly, and against the norm, a case in Alabama has a young cop facing murder charges for shooting and killing an unarmed black man.
Aaron Cody Smith, 23, who shot and killed the man has been charged with murder, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation according to ABC News.
District Attorney Daryl Bailey told Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange that the SBI believed it had established probable cause to arrest Montgomery Police Officer Aaron C. Smith in the shooting death of Gregory Gunn, Strange said in a statement.
“We believe it is essential for our community and for justice that the light of truth is brought in this case, as in every case,” Strange said.
On Feb. 25, Smith shot and killed 58-year-old Gunn in front of a neighbor’s house as he was walking home, the Associated Press reported. On Monday, Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley said Smith had deemed Gunn was acting “suspiciously,” but did not say what Smith found suspicious about him. Authorities initially said Gunn had a stick or cane and that the two became involved in a physical altercation before Smith shot him, the Associated Press reported.
DA Bailey said in a statement he would “do everything” in his power to protect a police officer who is acting within the law, but would also “use every ounce of” his power to prosecute a police officer who has acted outside of the law.
Smith has been released from the Montgomery County jail, McDermott said. He is currently in hiding because he and his family have been receiving death threats following Gunn’s death, McDermott said.
Smith’s bail had been set for $150,000, the AP reported. It was posted by several different jurisdictions supporting him, McDermott said.
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