Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – ‘Why did you shoot us?’: Waukegan mayor releases videos of fatal police-involved shooting

Introduction To This Series:

This post is one installment in an ongoing news series: a “living history” of the current national and international uprising for justice.

Today’s movement descends directly from the many earlier civil rights struggles against repeated injustices and race-based violence, including the killing of unarmed Black people. The posts in this series serve as a timeline of the uprising that began on May 26, 2020, the day after a Minneapolis police officer killed an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by kneeling on his neck. The viral video of Floyd’s torturous suffocation brought unprecedented national awareness to the ongoing demand to truly make Black Lives Matter in this country.

The posts in this series focus on stories of the particular killings that have spurred the current uprising and on the protests taking place around the USA and across the globe. Sadly, thousands of people have lost their lives to systemic racial, gender, sexuality, judicial, and economic injustice. The few whose names are listed here represent the countless others lost before and since. Likewise, we can report but a few of the countless demonstrations for justice now taking place in our major cities, small towns, and suburbs.

‘Why did you shoot us?’: Waukegan mayor releases videos of fatal police-involved shooting

By Rob Sneed, Chicago WGN9

October 29, 2020

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Waukegan’s mayor released videos of a fatal police-involved shooting that left a 19-year-old dead and his girlfriend injured.

On Wednesday, lawyers for the couple who was shot by Waukegan police that video shared by authorities showed a bullet-riddled car but not the entire incident. 

Mayor Sam Cunningham released the videos and said the officer’s bodycam was not “properly activated to properly archive the time of the shooting.

“This was a breach of Waukegan Police Department policies, and one of the reasons for the officer’s termination,” the mayor said.

Marcellis Stinnette, 19, was killed and his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, 20, was wounded after Waukegan police shot them in their car on Oct. 20. Police said they approached their car because it was “suspicious.” Williams said she and Stinnette had gone out to have a cigarette in their car.

Attorney Benjamin Crump said it appears that Waukegan officers had their body cameras off during key moments.

“We don’t have the transparency. We don’t have the truth,” Antonio Romanucci told reporters outside of a state police post in Des Plaines. Crump said they only have bits and pieces of the incident.

In one of the videos released, an officer is heard telling Stinnette that he was under arrest. When he asks why, an officer says, “Because I said.” The officer is seen approaching the vehicle and later says, “Because he has a warrant.”

The officer then says, “You can come out,” and the vehicle is seen driving away. Williams was behind the wheel that night. The officer then says, “Hey they just ran me over.” 

In dashcam video, the moments leading up to the shooting are seen — an officer gets out of his squad car and the vehicle he was chasing appears to go in reverse. The actual shooting is not seen on video, but about half dozen gunshots are heard going off. A crash is then heard as the car backs up into a building. 

When the officer turns his camera on, Williams can be heard screaming and saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I was right behind you and you tried to run me over,” the officer replies.

Moments later, the woman is heard saying, “Why did you shoot us?”

Williams said Stinnette was badly wounded and was still breathing after police shot him, but the only help he received from them was a blanket.

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