What happened to Brandon Jones?

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Brandon Jones, 18, was shot by a police officer early on Thursday morning, 2015, in Cleveland, Ohio as they confronted him about a reported break-in, the mourners said that police had overreacted yet again to a black man who posed no threat.

 

The two unnamed officers approached Jones as they found him leaving Parkwood Grocery with a bag at about 2.15am on Thursday. The three struggled. An officer fired his weapon at Jones, striking him in the chest. Police found cigarettes and a stack of coins on Jones, but recovered no weapon at the scene. Police said the two officers have been put on three-day administrative leave and that both an internal team and the county prosecutor’s office are investigating. The officers’ names have not been released. 

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What happened with his case?

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The Justice Department released a report in December that found the Cleveland police department used “excessive and unreasonable force” in hundreds of cases across several years and did not include cases such as that of Tamir Rice, who was killed by police seconds after an officer saw the boy holding a toy gun. The admonition, which declared too many of Cleveland’s officers were “chaotic and dangerous”, was the second federal warning to the city in a decade. 

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His sister, Angie, told local Cleveland news that the police response to her brother’s apparent robbery attempt was unacceptable: “There was two of them and there was one of him. They could have done anything, but they decided to shoot him.” Tonya Pearl, Jones’s aunt, told WKYC: “Everybody has their problems, but they didn’t have to take my nephew. His birthday is Wednesday. “They wrestled him to the ground. They could have tazed him,” she told Cleveland news outlets. “He was wrong for being in that store. I’m not covering up that, but the whole thing is: why did you have to shoot my nephew when he was on the ground?” 

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What can we do? 

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1. Contact Cuyahoga county prosecutor demanding Brandon Jones’ case is thoroughly investigated, and that the cops involved are charged. 

216.252.7463

 

2. Contact Cleveland Police department demanding the officers responsible for Brandon Jones death are fired. 

(216) 623-5000