Thread by @campaigntoendqi

In 2017, a Euclid, Ohio, resident called the police to report a “suspicious vehicle” outside her home. When 2 cops showed up, they found 23-year-old Luke Stewart, fast asleep. (1/12)

Luke had hoped to spend the night at a friend’s house. But when the friend wasn’t answering their phone, Luke parked nearby and dozed off. He wasn’t causing trouble. And he was unarmed. (2/12)

The 2 men startled Luke when they attempted to force him out of the car. Thoughtlessly, neither cop announced himself as a police officer. Still half asleep, not knowing what was going on, Luke panicked. (3/12)

Flushed with fear, Luke started his car. (4/12)

One of the officers opened the driver’s side door in a brutal attempt to stop Luke from driving away. He grabbed Luke, violently pulling him away from the gearshift. (5/12)

The other officer opened the passenger’s side door and began punching Luke in the face. As if that weren’t vicious enough, he then tased Luke 6 times. (6/12)

Finally, in a gruesome, unnecessary move, the bad cop pulled out his pistol and shot Luke 5 times in the chest, killing the young man. (7/12)

Luke’s grieving mother, Mary Stewart, filed a wrongful death lawsuit. She wanted justice for her slain son. (8/12)

Shockingly, even though a judge expressed outrage at the Euclid police’s lousy training protocols, he nevertheless dismissed the lawsuit. The bad cops got qualified immunity. Mary Stewart was denied justice, her heart shattered all over again. (9/12)

Following the verdict, the Stewart family’s attorneys voiced their anger at the broken system. (10/12)

“The courts' approaches to police shootings are becoming increasingly deferential to police,” they said, “and discounting facts that should require juries to decide whether or not police violated constitutional rights.” (11/12)

Luke Stewart was asleep in his car. He wasn’t a suspect. He wasn’t causing trouble. He was unarmed. Bad cops killed him, anyway. Killed him, and got away with it. Luke deserved better. His family deserved justice. It’s past time we #EndQualifiedImmunity. (12/12)