Family demands justice for Black man shot by police at California Walmart
The shooting occurred two months ago.
Steven Taylor, a Black man, was fatally shot by police two months ago at a San Leandro Walmart. In light of the viral protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, his family is speaking out.
According to CBS, Taylor’s family is angered by the lack of action taken in regards to their loved one’s case. “You talked about Mr. Floyd, you talked about Ms. Taylor. This happened in your community!” grandmother Addie Kitchen said. “They committed a crime, they murdered my grandson! If you murdered someone, you would be in jail.”
On April 18, police received a call about a man wielding a bat inside Walmart. It was later revealed that Taylor might’ve been suffering from a mental episode at the time. After arriving at the scene, the former was tased and fatally shot after he didn’t comply with instructions to put his bat down.
Taylor’s grandmother added, “We are fighting for all the Stevens, all the homeless, all the people that have mental issues. That should not be the reason to be murdered by the police department.”
The family of Steven Taylor want the officers involved arrested, in addition to calling for police reform. “The way our police should be reformed is to help people with mental illnesses; that when you call an officer on a Black person, it’s not going to end well,” Sharon Taylor explained.
After body cam footage of the shooting was released, San Leandro police chief Jeff Tudor explained that the clip provided an explanation as to what happened in the retail corporation. “We were transparent in the video. We tried to break down the sequence of events so the people can see the facts of this case,” Chief Tudor said.
Like Taylor’s family, many others have spoken out against the unjust killings of so many Black men and women in America. George Floyd’s death last month appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.