I have enormous sympathy for anyone who experiences the loss of a loved one. It’s one of the toughest things you can go through. It’s hard enough when someone you love dies from natural causes. But for them to be shot to death while still young is especially horrible. I post today specifically in reference to a Black man, Tyrell Wilson, who was shot to death by a Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Deputy, Andrew Hall, a White man, in a tragic confrontation a year ago in Danville.
Wilson’s older sister, I’Asha Wakefield, wrote a powerful essay in the Chronicle a few days ago, in which she remembered her “baby brother” to whom she was devoted. Alongside her grief is anger: at the “horrible injustice” of Tyrell being shot, at the fact that Hall “has not been charged for the killing,” at her perception that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies [to people] only until a person with a state-issued gun decides that your life doesn’t matter,” at her conclusion that “Andrew Hall decided to kill my brother.” No one who reads Ms. Wakefield’s essay can fail to be moved by her grief, her rage, and the awful loss she has endured.
There are several facts that Ms. Wakefield didn’t mention in the essay, which I would like to bring out, based on my observation of three videos, each of which captured the tragic event: one was from Hall’s body cam, one was caught by a passing motorist, and the third was by a city surveillance camera. All three videos confirm the central facts of the event.
Hall responded to calls about a person throwing rocks at cars from an overpass over I-680. Upon arriving on the scene, Hall sees a man jaywalking across a major intersection. The man, we learn later, matches the description of the person throwing rocks.
Officer Hall gets out of his car and from about 20 yards away calls to the man, “Hey buddy, come here for me real quick.” The man continues walking away from him, but clearly hears him. “Who are you” he asks. Hall, who is in uniform, asks the person at least two more times to “Come here.” Each time the man responds, “No,” and continues to distance himself from Hall.
Then the officer identifies himself as Danville Police Officer Hall. The man can be heard saying, “Authority of what?” and then “Don’t fucking touch me.” Facing Hall, he brandishes a knife. By this time, Hall is about six feet away from the man. Twice he orders Wilson to“Drop the knife!” Suddenly, the man, with the knife in his hand, takes three quick steps toward Officer Hall. Officer Hall fires a single shot. The man drops to the ground. Hall immediately calls Dispatch and asks for “additional units,” including medical.
Yes, this was a use-of-force incident by a cop that resulted in loss of life. But it’s important to understand that police officers are allowed to use guns when they feel their lives, or the lives of others, are being threatened. Put yourself into Hall’s shoes. He’s standing a few feet away from Wilson, who’s coming toward him with a knife. Wilson has been resistant and truculent from the start, and has repeatedly refused to comply with Hall’s instructions. What would you do?
As much as I feel for Wilson’s family, it seems to me that this shooting was justified. Hall did not “decide to kill” Wilson. There can have been no premeditated forethought; he acted instinctively to save his life. Perhaps he could have shot Wilson in the leg or some other non-lethal part of the body. That’s another conversation. But that Hall had the right to defend himself, in the urgency of the moment, seems to me incontestable.
Incidentally, the Wilson family was paid $4.5 million by Contra Costa County for their loss, an amount negotiated by their lawyer, John Burris, who argued that Hall “wrongfully” shot Wilson. Although Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston correctly pointed out that “Wilson advanced on Hall,” Burris, according to the Mercury-News, claimed that Wilson“never made such a move.” That false statement is clearly refuted by the three videotapes. Watch them and judge for yourself.
Steve Heimoff