Corrections officers killed 17-year-old Cedric Lofton last September, but the Wichita County DA says he will not charge them because of Kansas' Stand Your Ground Law - a law passed to allow homeowners to act in self defense not give law enforcement impunity to kill. 
Cedric was experiencing a mental health crisis when his foster father locked him out of the house the night he died and called the police.
Police took him to a juvenile jail. Corrections officers placed him in ankle shackles, and handcuffed him. nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/…
Police took him to a juvenile jail. Corrections officers placed him in ankle shackles, and handcuffed him. nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/…
The officers then pushed him face down into the ground, holding him down for half an hour until he stopped breathing. He died later at the hospital.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Bodycam of the incident has been released. I am not posting.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Bodycam of the incident has been released. I am not posting.
I mean we've seen how stand your ground laws have expanded to allow White people, like George Zimmerman, to kill Black children, like Trayvon Martin.
Extending the protection to law enforcement tho is newer.
Extending the protection to law enforcement tho is newer.
Even Republican lawmakers have some thoughts. “I don’t know how you apply stand your ground to that scenario. It's meant to be for self-defense, to allow you to protect yourself.” said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita-area Republican.
I think the more prescient comment is made by @spitzerb who says the DA's decision is in fact “a perfectly logical application” of stand your ground laws, which demonstrates precisely why they're problematic, period. usnews.com/news/politics/…
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