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Nationwide and in Miami, outrage over police violence against African-Americans has reached a boiling point, fueled by the lack of indictments in the Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice cases.
So it’s beyond baffling why the North Miami Beach Police Department not only used photos of local black men for a recent target practice session, but that their chief also quickly defended the practice.
See also: Miami Cops Misuse Tasers, With Deadly Results
The story, which comes from NBC 6, unraveled only because the sister of one of the men whose photos were used in the target practice happened to go to the same shooting range as the NMB officers.
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Sgt. Valerie Deant, who serves in the Florida National Guard, had gone to a Medley shooting range for her monthly military training. That’s when she spotted a sheet of mug shots — all of black men — riddled with bullets. She quickly learned it had been left by NMBPD snipers who had recently used the same range.
Worst of all, one of the men pictured was Deant’s brother. The mug shot was from 15 years ago, when he’d been arrested in connection with a deadly drag race.
“I was like, ‘Why is my brother being used for target practice?'” Deant asked the station.
Great question. Did NMBPD’s chief quickly apologize? Not exactly.
Chief J. Scott Dennis says blasting guns at mug shots of local residents is totally cool in his department.
“Our policies were not violated,” Dennis told NBC 6. “There is no discipline forthcoming from the individuals who were involved with this.”
Activists quickly blasted that response. Here’s a statement from the Miami Committee on State Violence, a group that has helped organize recent anti-brutality marches:
But the department seems to be doubling down in its defense. Here’s what the force just tweeted:
Great game plan, NMBPD. Attack the reporters who broke the story, and then hide behind the bogus #alllivesmatter hashtag.
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