The haunting last words of people killed at the hands of police

Stephon Clark was shot eight times, including six times in the back, in his grandmother’s back yard In California. He was unarmed, and his death sparked protests across America about the prevalence of African American men dying at the hands of the police.

According to Gun Violence Archive, 3,646 people have died this year as a result of gun-related violence in the US.

And the statistics are just as grim when it comes to police-related deaths. In 2017, police officers killed 1,129 people. That’s more people than the total number of US soldiers killed in action around the world that same year.

The Police Violence Report states:

Black people were more likely to be killed by police, more likely to be unarmed and less likely to be threatening someone when killed.

In light of such damning figures, journalist Shirin Barghi embarked on project called #LastWords and made posters featuring the reported final utterances of people – whether it was immediately after being shot, close to the event, or even online via social media – before they were killed by police officers.

Here they are:

Christian Taylor.

Freddie Gray.

Trayvon Martin.

Lavon King.

Kajieme Powell.

John Crawford.

Michael Brown.

Eric Garner.

Kenneth Chamberlain.

Kimani Gray.

Amadou Diallo.

Kendrec McDade.

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