Hes a black dude
hes carrying a rifle! the 911 caller declared. The incident occurred in Florida, where open carry of a BB-gun is completely legal, just like it is in Ohio where John Crawford was shot.
Just like John Crawford, who was killed by Beavercreek police in a Walmart pet food aisle, Jermaine McBean was carrying an air rifle, not a real gun.
Unlike some other states, Florida does not classify air rifles or BB-guns as firearms or as dangerous weapons. Instead, the state lumps these weapons in with other non-lethal weapons. That means that even though Florida has a long-standing ban on open carry (unlike Ohio), it does not apply to BB-guns.
The 911 caller even acknowledges that the rifle the man he saw carrying, looks like a .22 or a pellet gun, but that didnt matter much to him, the 911 operator or the police who shot him dead.
Was race a factor in this shooting? Some say yes, others say it is just about police brutality. Those who believe it was a factor note the descriptions and dialogs related to the mans ethnicity in the 911 calls.
Listen to the 911 calls in the video below from local NBC News
In the second 911 call, the operator asks is he a black man or Hispanic?
Some suggest that this means the 911 operator was aware of the fact that the Caucasian woman would not have called if the man with the rifle was also Caucasian.
After the Florida police fatally shot McBean as he legally walked home with an unloaded air rifle, they claimed that there was no reason why he wouldnt have been able to drop the BB-gun when they ordered him to.
But a new photo has just emerged which proves that McBean had earbud headphones in his ears immediately after the 2013 shooting.
This demonstrates that the police have been deliberately lying and covering up this fact.
In fact, the earbuds were later found stuffed in the law-abiding citizens pockets, proving that police tried to cover up the shooting by tampering with evidence.
The first 911 caller also admits that McBean never pointed it (the BB gun) at police or anyone else.
Michael Russell McCarthy, 58, said in an interview with NBC News that McBean had the Winchester Model 1000 Air Rifle balanced on his shoulders behind his neck, with his hand over both ends, and was turning around to face police when one officer began shooting, NBC News reports.
He couldnt have fired that gun from the position he was in. There was no possible way of firing it and at the same time hitting something, McCarthy explained. I kind of blame myself, because if I hadnt called it might not have happened.
Civil rights lawyer David Schoen explains that the photo of McBean which shows him with the headphones in his ears is evidence of a cover up.
The woman who took the photo wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of police retribution.
The witness who took it, a nurse who asked to remain anonymous, says she pointed out the earbuds to police at the scene, after they rebuffed her offer to provide first aid to the dying man.
The homicide detective on the internal review of the shooting told McBeans relatives that the officers on the scene confirmed he had no earbuds in his ears after family members informed them that he always wore them when he was out walking.
I was highly upset, McBeans mother, Jennifer Young, explained. After she saw the photo, I said, They lied to me. What else have they lied about?'
The shooter, Officer Peraza claims that he fired his at McBean after he pulled the weapon up over his head and grabbed it and started to turn and point it at us.
I felt like my life was threatened. I had that feeling like if I would not go home that day, Peraza claimed.
I felt like I couldve been killed. My sergeant couldve been killed. He couldve shot somebody in the pool area. So as soon as he did turn and point his weapon at us, thats when I fired my duty weapon.
Sgt. Richard LaCerra, another officer on the scene, says that after McBean fell, he explained with his dying breath that, It was just a BB gun.
McBean was not deranged, insane, homicidal or suicidal. He held two degrees from Pace University in New York, and worked in information technology at a Fort Lauderdale ad agency. He had no criminal record and did not aim any weapon at law enforcement officers.
They could have just tackled him, or just tased him. Why shoot him three times? Alfred McBean said. Criminal charges need to be filed.
The victims mother agreed.
Hes very missed, he was very loved and he was a loving and caring person himself, she explained. I cant wait to get justice for him.
(Article by M. David and S. Wooten)